In the Nick of Time,
by KingDeadshot
Summary: The world of Remnant is full of tales of heroes, known as Huntsman and Huntresses. These tales are meant to inspire future generations with bravery and courage. This is the story of the upcoming huntsman Nick Veras. Following his fight against the darkness of Remnant.
1. Chapter I

It was a dry yet warm day in Nicks home village. A decent sized colony placed on an island between Vale and Atlas. People from both kingdoms moved here as a trading colony for those traveling to other kingdoms. Today, Nick and his mother decided it was a good day to go buy supplies at the market.

While his mother was distracted buying goods, he ran down the side of the street, looking a way to entertain himself. He didn't get very far, though. Without paying attention, he knocked into a girl his age and took them both to the ground.

"Sorry!" He said quickly, he stood up and looked at who he tackled. Her knee length skirt, and short sleeved T-shirt, were dirty from falling into the street. Her short blond hair was messed up by the fall, and simple yet pretty face was also slightly covered in dirt. Embarrassed, Nick held out a hand to the girl who looked up at him, she whimpered.

"M-My tail," she whimpered and looked up at him with almost teary eyes. Nick realized one of his feet were now standing on what appeared to be a fox's tail. However, instead of being attached to a dog, it snaked up her legs and disappeared under her skirt.

Nick quickly stepped off her tail, and held out his hand again to help her up. She clasped his hand and pulled herself up. She pulled her hand away once she was standing and glared at him.

"I'm sorry." Nick repeated, he looked down towards the ground guiltily as she brushed herself off.

"It's fine, you really should watch where you're going." She huffed in response and looked at the strange boy who tackled her. He had dark brown hair, an attractive long face for his age, a pair of jeans and a black tank top shirt.

"Umm, why do you have a tail?" Nick asked curiously, she stared at him for a minute.

"I was born with it." She responded cautiously and seemingly confused on why he asked.

"That's really cool!" He blurted out, "I've never met someone with a tail before!" He added on. The girl stated at him in slight shock some more.

"You've never met a Faunus before?" She asked. The boy shook his head.

"Nope, I don't go out much so I don't know a lot of people," he responded. "What's a Faunus?" She stutters for a minute, as if she was unsure what to make of him.

"Umm-" she tried to start but was cut off.

"Well, you look really cute with that tail!" He said, she blushed slightly from the compliment.

Before the two could talk anymore, Nick was grabbed from behind by his shoulders and turned around to witness his mother, her face coated in anger.

"What are you doing?!" His mother yelled into his face. Nick would've stepped back and tripped again if she wasn't gripping him so tight that he couldn't move.

"I got bored, and wanted to walk-" he was cut off.

"No! What are you doing talking to that, thing?!" His mother asked in anger, she gestured toward the girl, who stood there watching the scene unfold uncomfortably. "Don't you know they're dangerous?! They certainly aren't cute either! They're just manipulative creatures that will hurt you!" She continued to yell. The girl finally had turned and ran away from the crazed mother. "We're going home this instant!" She declared and began dragging the eight-year old Nick down the street by his arm, despite his protest. Once they returned to their house, she dragged him into the houses main room. "You will not speak to her or anyone else like that! Do you understand me?!" She scolds. Nick shook in fear of her, but he somehow worked up the nerve to respond.

"Why not? She was really nice and I liked her!" Nick yelled, matching her tone for a second before he lost his confidence again.

His mother stared in horror and shock at him for a minute before she said anything else.

"You what?!" His mother screamed at Nick.

"I-I just think she's cute... With that tail of hers..."Nick managed to stutter out. He didn't understand his mothers outburst. He didn't understand why commenting how found the Faunus' girls tail cute to deserve this. He teared up, and began to cry.

"Shut up! No child of mine will be wooing over those things! They aren't even human! It's unnatural!"His mother screeched at him again.

"I- I'm-" Nick began to speak though his sobbing, but was cut off by his mother.

"Get out of my house! You're not my son if you're attracted to those creatures! You're as bad as those savages!"She shrieked. She grabbed young Nick by the shirt collar and began dragging him through the house. Nick struggled to no avail until they reached the front door. Nicks mother opened the door.

"Don't ever come back! You're dead to me." She growled and then pushed him out the door.

Nick heard the door lock after she had slammed it shut. He laid there on the porch and cried for an hour or so, before finally he stood. He ran down the dirt street of his village. A few other people on the town's road saw him running and crying and gave him concerned looks, some even asking what was wrong. He ignored them all. Nick's life had changed forever, forced into the new dark reality he lived in. His mother cast him out, with nothing except the clothes on his back and her raving yells of hatred scared into his mind. All because he thought a Faunus girl was attractive.


	2. Chapter II

Nick spent the next year living on the streets of his home colony. Forced to wander the dirt streets, the Atleasian buildings felt as if they loomed over him. The pearl lavish structures taunting his existence, he spent his time begging on a reserved part of town. The Vale styled architecture with its simple designs felt more welcoming. He moved around often, sometimes stealing from the well off travelers. He figured he needed it more then they did anyway.

Nick sat in the dirty alleyway he woke up in, wet from the rain, thinking about his next movement. He sighed, realizing the next safe move would take him back to the part of the town influenced by Atlas. Specifically the Atlas part of the town market, the place his life changed forever. He briefly checked himself over to make sure his few possessions were present. His handful of Lien were still in his pocket, and the knife he stole off a traveling hunter was still hidden under his shirt. He was very protective of it, even though he's only ever needed it a few times.

He decided not to waste any more time, Nick stood up and made his way out of the alleyway onto the street. The strange street's mixture of Vale and Atlas styled houses dotted the muddy road. He took in a breath of the chilled, humid air, before he began his walk to the market.

The markets stalls were either empty, or contained bored shopkeepers. The only place that seemed to have any customers were the dust and food stalls, which had various people drifting through them. Nick eyed each stall before finding his prize. The red and white striped canvas roof over the booth was dripping wet, which protected it's goods inside. The Vale based fruit booth was guarded by a sleeping shopkeeper. Nick smiled sadly to himself, and moved over to the other side of the road where the booth was. As he walked past, he swiftly reached out and grabbed an apple and held it close to his chest. He never slowed his pace during the thievery, and the shopkeeper didn't complain.

When he felt he was a safe enough distance away, he allowed himself to relax and took a bite into the apple. They were rare treats to him, worthy of savoring each bite. After Nick had finished the last bite, he had tossed the core over his shoulder. He heard the splash of it landing in a puddle, but he kept walking until he felt a chill down his spine causing him to stop. He looked around and realized this was the exact place a year ago he met that Faunus girl. He sighed, staring at the muddy road that was the exact spot he ran into her. Nick never saw her again after that and he tended to avoid this part of town.

He began to notice the shopkeepers kept giving him strange looks, signaling to him that it was time to move on. He turned to leave. He saw his reflection in the last stall on his side of the road decorated in Atlas dust, mirrors, and other suck trinkets. His face had become dirty, his hair had grown out and was a mess, and his facial features had changed from a naive smile to a more grim expression.

Nick was tempted to stop at the stall and stare at the person he'd become. However, he knew he couldn't stay outside in the rain. He moved on, entering the residential area. All traces of the comfortable Vale buildings vanished, leaving only Atlas based large housing. His old neighborhood. He felt a little sick to his stomach being back here, remembering his mothers harsh words. As he began to increase his pace, he suddenly heard a short, high pitched scream. The scream sounded like it was cut off, and nearby. Curious and concerned, Nick began searching the area for the source of the scream. He found its source in another alleyway between the two buildings.

Inside the alley, four boys a few years older then himself were standing around someone, laughing. His eyes widened when he saw who was in the middle of the boys ring. It was the same Faunus girl he tackled a year ago. Her blue knee-length skirt and black T-shirt were ripped in places, and her left eye was freshly bruised. Nick moved back behind the corner and continued to watch the scene unfold.

One of the boys had gripped onto her tail and was aggressively jerking on it, causing her to yelp in pain.

"It can't be real, it's got to come off!" one of the boys jeered. She struggled and tried to escape them. Two of them held her arms back, the third one was pulling on her tail, and the fourth punched her stomach whenever she struggled to escape. Nick watched this continue for a minute or two, before deciding what to do. He can't just stand by and watch. He reached behind him, making sure his knife is still sheathed under his shirt. The confirming feel of the handle helped steel his nerves.

After Nick had made his plan of action, he took a deep breath and stepped into view. He left the knife sheathed for now, he didn't need it yet.

"Hey!" He yelled into the alleyway loudly. Attracting the attention of the four assaulters.

"Oh, wanna join in?" The front one taunts and four laugh. Nicks face began to twist in anger.

"Let her go, now!" He yelled, hoping someone will have heard his shouting, though he doubts it. "Or else," he added, almost kicking himself for relying too much on someone hearing him. "

Or what kid? You gunna beat us up to protect ya animal girlfriend here?" The one in front taunted. All four laughed, and Nick knew what was going to happen next. The fourth and obvious leader of the group stepped forward, as he rubbed his fist. "Maybe you'd like to be next?" He asks menacingly. Before the assaulter could react. Nick had full on punched the leader of the group, stunning him. He used this moment to dodge around him and kick him in the groin. The boy collapsed, and Nick turned to the other three, a grin slowly creeping up his face.

Taking advantage of the shock from taking down their leader so easily. Nick reached behind him and drew his knife, holding it in a way he's practiced a few times before in case he needed to use it. He isn't stranger to a fight anymore. He allowed the small grin to spread over his face, and watched the other three boy's faces displayed their shock.

"I'm getting serious, now who's next?" Nick asked in a menacing tone.

"H-hey! I know this kid!" One boy said. "He's that tough street rat that's been harassing people south of town!" He said after pausing. Nick simply continued to smile and beckoned them forward with a finger.

"This guy's crazy! Let's bail!" The other suggests. With that, the three remaining assaulters let go of the girl and run past Nick. They stopped to assist their leader standing up before they ran out of the ally as fast as they could. Nick sighed once they were out of sight, his adrenaline fading. He watched as rainwater dripped off his blade for a second, before sheathing it again under his shirt.

With that, he looked down the Faunus girl. Her assaulters had pushed her on her hands and knees as they ran. She stared up at him for a minute, before her eyes widened. "H-hey! Aren't you that boy who tackled me in the street that one time? With the crazy mother?" She asked, her voice trembled as she spoke. Nick said nothing. He just nodded and offered out his hand. She watched the rainwater dripped off the soaking boys hand, her face still written in shock of what happened.

She reached out and took his hand, both unaware that they were being watched by a figure cloaked in black in the other alleyway.

* * *

 **Authors note:**

 **Heh, left ya on a cliffhanger, prepare for a lot of that. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and reviewing the last chapter! It made the debut of RWBY:Dark feel like a success thanks to you guys! Some of you pointed out flaws I made in the last chapter, thank you. I did my best to fix that here. Also, eventually if this story still has steam behind it and a good amount of content. I'll come back and re-do earlier chapters such as the last one and this one with a more improved writing style! Anyway, inconsistently uploaded chapters are inbound until I work out a good schedule for uploading and this story gets some meat on it. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter III

The two had been running through the muddy streets for a few minutes now. Nick practically dragged her half the way there after telling her he knew a place they could get out of the rain, which she readily agreed to. Though she seemed to get a little nervous once they went back through the market, and into the Vale built part of town.

Finally, they stopped at a small building, a tavern.

"Are you sure about this?" The girl asked him.

"No, but it's dry and I know people there." Nick responded casually, and began to walk to the entrance.

"Umm, I never asked... What's you name?" She asked. Nick realized they never really did tell each other that.

"Oh, right. It's Nick Veras, what's yours?" He asks.

"Indigo Kani." She says. "Great, can we get out of the rain now?" Nick asked jokingly, she nodded and they walked inside.

The Vale styled tavern was practically empty. Wooden tables and chairs were placed throughout the wooden building. On the other end, an older looking barkeeper was cleaning a glass. He raised an eyebrow at Nick and Indigo when they entered. Nick walked up to the bar and pulled himself up a stool. Indigo nervously took a seat next to him, as the bartended walked over.

"Aren't you two a little young to be in here?" The old bartender asked, his voice slightly teasing. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you a little old to be working?" Nick shot back, an amount of sarcasm in his voice. The old bartender laughed lightly.

"Always a pleasure to see you too Nick. So I can get you the usual?"

"Well it's all I can afford so yeah and it two." Nick said, the bartender laughed again.

"Well, Water is free after all, given how you two look like wet sponges. I figured you might have had enough for one day." he said with a chuckle."Two waters coming up." The bartender walks away to retrieve the order, and Nick turns his head to look at Indigo.

"So, been awhile." He said, starting off the conversation. "You're looking good."

"I wish I could say the same about you." She responds sheepishly. "What happened to you?" She asked. The bartender returned with two glasses of clear liquid.

"I'll let you two kids have your space," the old man said with a wink. Nick shot him a rude gesture jokingly as he walked away, leaving them alone. Nick sighed.  
"Well, spending a year on the streets does that to a person." Nick said. She stared at him in shock for a minute.

"She really kicked you out over that?!" Indigo asked in surprise. Nick nodded grimly and sipped his drink.

"Isn't so bad, it's mostly pretty boring." Nick shrugged. They sat there in silence for a minute; Indigo took a sip of her drink. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the sound of faint screams could be heard outside.

The old bartender hastily walked back behind his counter. "You two need to leave, now." He said worriedly. "Grimm are attacking." Nick instantly felt his stomach twist in fear. He only ever saw a Grimm once. They're why he never tried to leave town on foot. It was the only reason he stayed, because he wouldn't survive five minutes alone outside town. Indigo looked like she was about to be sick.

"M-my grandparents... They're sickly... They won't make it far without help." She said, her voice trembled in fear.

Nick's brain kicked into high gear, he jumped off the stool and drew the knife he carried.

"Let's go get them then," Nick said. Indigo stared at him in shock at what he just suggested.

"Are you insane?!" She exclaimed.

"Maybe, but it's definitely not safer to stay in here. Plus we have to leave before the town is destroyed, we should check to see if they got out on the way." Nick replied. His voice shaking from what he had suggested, but he knew they had no choice. Indigo pulled herself off her stool, she was shaking slightly. Before the duo could take a step towards the door, it shattered into splinters. In it's place, a small monkey-like Grimm stood in its place. Before it could charge in further the sound of a gunshot rang out directly behind them. The Grimm cried out, before it melted into a pool of darkness and faded.

Nick turned behind him, to see the old bartender was holding a pistol. "Go," he said, "It's not safe here." Nick nodded sadly.

"Don't forget to leave too, old man." Nick responded. The old bartender sighed.

"Don't worry about me, see you around." he said. Nick nodded, grabbed Indigos hand, and began pulling them both put the door.  
A few of the buildings were on fire, people had crowded the streets, panicking and fleeing. The roars of the Grimm sounded nearby.  
Without stopping, Indigo began to run along with the direction of the stampede of villagers. Nick grabbed her before she could get far and pulled her to the edge of the road.

"Stay on the edge of the road!" Nick shouted over the screams of people. Indigo nodded and they began running again.

The two broke off from the stampede of villagers back into the residential area. The streets were empty, and more houses were burning. Nick noticed Indigo was beginning to cry seeing this, and he wondered to himself how long they could stay here. Indigo stopped running, and stared at a house. Nick stopped a few feet after her and turned around to face her. Her face was covered in shock, tears were running down her face as she stared at the burning building.

"G-grandpa... Grandma..." She whispered to herself.

That's when Nick heard it, a growl. Behind them, almost like a pure shadow, a Grimm shaped like a wild boar emerged from the darkness behind them.

"Indigo!" Nick shouted, as the Grimm began to charge. Nick readied the knife in his hand, aware of what he had to. Without having missed a beat, Nick shoved Indigo out of the path of the charging Grimm and jumped in the air. He pressed his feet the beasts tusks and pushed himself forward between them. Nick jabbed the knife forward, burying between the Grimm's red eyes. Using the momentum of his body beginning to fall, Nick forced the blade down the Grimm's heads though it only cut a few inches down. Nick, resisting the intense urge to scream and run away, pushed the knife in deeper and twisted it. The Grimm roared and struggled, but it was too late for the beast. It collapsed and began to dissipate into a puddle of darkness.

Nick pulled his knife out of the head of the Grimm, and fell to his knees, panting heavily. He looked over at Indigo as he began to control his breathing. She was staring at him in surprise.

"Guess... That we're two to zero... now..." Nick joked in-between breaths. He stood up, and held out his free hand to help her off the ground. She didn't take it, instead, she curled up into a fetal position, and burying her face in her knees and wrapping her tail over it. Nick bit his lower lip. They didn't have time to sit around and mourn. He couldn't take another Grimm like that. He just got lucky.

Unsure of what else to do, he put the knife down and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Indigo... We have to go," Nick says softly. She doesn't respond. He sat there for a minute and tried to comfort his friend enough so they could run. Then, the growls of the Grimm sounded from behind him. He turned his head back down the street, his heart almost skipped a beat. Larger Grimm, a Beowulf pack was beginning to run down the street, snarling and growling. Nick realized this was probably the end and decided he wanted to go down fighting.

He forced himself not to run and leave Indigo, he doubted he could outrun them anyway. He pulled away from her and picked up his knife. He might as well go down defending his only friend. He readied himself a little, his knuckles white from the grip on the handle. He took a breath and readied his stance. Nick wanted to cry, but he held it back, he had one last job to do.

Just as the Grimm closed in, and Nick was ready, the world turned grey. The Grimm stopped in their path, staring intensely at him, that's when he heard footsteps behind him. A split second later, one of the beowulf Grimm had exploded into darkness. He caught for a split second, a grey cloaked figure holding what appeared to be a spear. Nick barely processed this before the figure moved again, impaling another Grimm with the spear. After that, he almost felt sorry for the Grimm it was so one-sided.

The cloaked figure cut them down like they were cake. Nick barely even saw him move before he moved again, and quickly the pack was gone. Nick sighed in relief, staring at the figure with the spear, as the world returned to color again.

The figure turned around to face them while pulling the hood down. It revealed the face of a mature man, his short grey hair and strong but slightly wrinkled face was filled with seriousness. A scar running down the side of his face seemed to twitch.

"We must leave this place, come with me." He said, his voice deep and rough. Nick nodded and looked back at Indigo, her head was still buried into her knees.

"I can't just leave her." Nick stated. The old man grinned slightly.

"You got a good heart kid, of course we're not leaving her." The cloaked man said. The old mans spearhead collapsed into the handle, until it was just a simple walking staff. The man walked over, and picked up Indigo over his shoulder. She squirmed in his arm for a minute before stopping, as if she didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

Nick followed the cloaked man down the streets, never sheathing his knife. He didn't like this, but didn't really have a choice in the matter. The man saved their lives and was getting them both out of there. Eventually, the three found the back end of the fleeing locals. Fire had spread to most of the town now, and the howls of the Grimm from inside the dying settlement made the scene much more haunting. Nick realized he was trailing behind the cloaked man a little and picked up his pace. They were in the clearing between the woods and town now. The flames shouldn't spread to the rest of the forest this way.

The majority of fleeing settlers had crowed by the edge of the woods to rest. Nick remembered the next town wasn't too far off and with the Grimm still busy overrunning the town, it wouldn't be a bad walk.

"Hey, kid." The old man said.

"Yeah?" Nick asked, he tried not to show he was intimidated by the older man.

"Ever thought about being a Huntsman?" The question resonated with Nick. The huntsman and huntresses of Remnant were admirable in Nicks eyes. They had the strength to handle anything thrown at them head on, they didn't have to spend their days hiding and begging in a wet ally. If they wanted something done, they fought for it.

Nick took in a breath, being strong enough to overcome his problems was all he ever wanted.

"Well, being a Huntsman is a honorable thing. I'd be lying if I said no." Nick responded finally to the mans question. The older man grunts.

"You got the heart for it kid, and definitely a leg up on others already in terms of skill. I've been watching you for awhile now, you have what it takes." The man said. Nick was taken back by this.

"What?" Nick managed to ask. The man shrugged.

"I don't know how long you've been living in a gutter, but you have a quite a promising history to keep up with. Todays stunts rescuing this girl from attackers and killing a Grimm without adequate equipment just because it was right. Those perhaps impressed me most. It's the essence of being a huntsman." The man said. Nick shook his head, he shouldn't have been surprised he was being watched, but he wasn't expecting it to be a guy like this.

Nick grunted, he wanted to believe this guy, but he felt something might be off.

"Three questions. One, how do you know so much about being a huntsman? Two, even if I wanted to become a huntsman, who would train me, you? Three, who even are you?" Nick asked. The man laughed lightly.

"To answer your first question, it's because I am a huntsman, until I retired anyway. As for the other two, my name is Hunter, and you got any better options?" The man said, throwing a little sarcasm in at the end. Nick wasn't sure how to feel about this huntsman, by he did have a point.

"Well then, Hunter if you're offering to train me. I would accept, though I would obviously need equipment and the likes." Hunter just laughed. "I can arrange those details. Though it will be rigorous." Hunter said. Nick smirked, he didn't have any more options then to trust this man. He might as well go all in.

Hunter began leading Nick around the now dispensing crowd, who were beginning their trek to the next village. Eventually starting down a rougher, smaller trail nobody had noticed or cared to explore.

As they walked, Nick began to feel tired and lightheaded. He stopped as everything around him began to spin, the last thing he remembered before passing out were the trees.


	4. Chapter IV

Nick awoke with a headache. His instincts instantly kicked into high gear the moment he did, registering he laid on something soft. He groaned lightly and opened his eyes, for them to be met with a white ceiling. He groaned and sat up, taking in his surroundings. It was a small bedroom, lit by an open window. The light made Nick wince a little. Once his eyes had adjusted, he saw a simple dresser across from him and table next to the bed he laid on. The knife and it's sheath that he's carried under his shirt for so long was resting on the top of the dresser.

Nick pulled the covers off himself and climbed out of the bed awkwardly. It's been a year since he last slept in a bed, it felt too soft almost. He realized after he was out of the bed he was wearing fresh clothes. A simple pair of jeans and T shirt, but they were fresh and dry. Before he could do anything, he heard a door open at the end of the room.

"You're finally awake." a familiar voice said. Hunter stood at the other end of the door, holding it open and looking inside. He changed out of the cloak into normal clothes, which revealed his overly muscular build.

"How long was I out?" Nick asked bluntly.

"Two days, given everything you two have been through, I guessed you would've been out longer." Hunter responded.

Nicks eyes widened, remembering Indigo.

"What happened to her? Is she okay?" Nick asked worriedly. Hunter looked down at the ground for a minute.

"She woke up yesterday, kid won't leave her room or eat anything." Hunter explained, Nick sighed.

"I want to talk to her."

"Give it a minute kid, let's get some food in you first." Nick protested, but Hunter insisted. Nick was led through the hallway of the house a little until they reached a main room. The whole room had an simple Vale design with a table, chair, and sofa in the middle of it. Nick sat down on the couch, and Hunter disappeared down a hallway. A few minutes later, he brought back some food on a tray.

Nick had practically wolfed it down. It was more food then he was used to at one time.

"Slow down there. It's not going anywhere." Hunter warned, causing him to slow down a little. After he had finished, Nick sat the tray down at the table.

"Alright now can I talk to her?" Nick persisted, Hunter sighed.

"Yeah, sure kid. Just, good luck with that. She's in the room across from yours." Hunter said. Without hesitating, Nick stood up and walked back down the hallway he came from. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Hunter, but so far trusting him was beginning to pay off. He stopped at his room and turned his attention to the door across from it.

Nick sighed and knocked. He got no response. Slowly, he began to open the door. The room looked just like his, though he barely had time to register that before he saw her. Indigo was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall. He was already walking over before he could think of anything to say. He walked around the bed and sat down next to her. He pulled her into a hug. She didn't react, she kept staring at the wall and seemed lost in thought.

"Indigo..." Nick said slowly. As he tried to think of what to say, she sniffled.

"I... Wasn't there... I wasn't fast enough..." She muttered.

"You did everything you could, it's not your fault." Nick consoled, Indigo shook her head.  
"I... I wasn't strong enough to save them... I... I'm not strong like you..." she said, barely able to contain herself. Nick didn't know how to respond to that. They sat there for awhile like that, before Nick finally tried to say anything.

"Indigo... Let's get you some food." Nick said quietly. He didn't wait for her to refuse. He practically pulled her off the bed and toward the door.

She seemed to understand he wouldn't take no for an answer. She followed him out of the bedroom and into the main room, where Hunter sat in the chair across the table. He had already prepared another tray of food for her and left it out. The two sat down on opposite ends of the couch and Indigo slowly began to eat.

Hunter took in a breath and put down his book.

"So, Kid. You sure you still wanna be a huntsman? There's no going back once we start training you for it." He asked gruffly and included the warning. Nick nodded.

"I'm sure." He said. Before he could say anything more, Indigo put her tray of food down on the table.

"I want to be one too." She said emotionlessly. Hunter gave her a curious look.

"You sure you want to do that, kid? It's not an easy life." Hunter asked. Indigo nodded.

"It's the only way for me... I need to be..." Indigo said, but stopped herself. "Look, can you train me like you're offering him, or not?" She asked grouchily. Nick was the one now looking at her, concerned.

"If you're sure, but don't say I didn't warn you kid." Hunter said, and looked between the two kids.

"Alright... First thing we need to do is get your auras fully unlocked. Nick's got a little bit of his already active, but most of it seems to be still dormant." Hunter stated.

"Aura?" Nick asked. Hunter sighed.

"Aura, it's basically a source of power derived from our souls. It helps protect us from harm, heals small wounds. That stuff. Each persons aura is unique in amount and toughness. An easy way of thinking about it is like a portable force field. It's not perfect by any means, but it certainly helps to have. Besides, it powers semblances, and we definitely need that." Hunter explained to the two. Indigo listened in silence, her face remained unreadable the entire time.

"Wait, semblances?" Nick asked. "What are those?" Hunter took a breath.

"Ya know those stories you sometimes read about a hero who can do superhuman things? That's basically what a semblance is, a superpower of sorts being the easiest way to think about it... Most of the time, semblances are unique to each person based off personality and strengths. Though there is one hereditary semblance out there I know of, and I've seen ones that are similar before." Hunter explained. "Any more questions?"

"Can we get this over with? What do we have to do?" Indigo asked grouchily.

"Give me your hands." He responded.

Hunter held out his hands, Nick put his hand cautiously in one, Indigo did the same. Hunter took in a breath and began concentrating. It didn't take long before Nick started feeling results. He felt power flow through him, he felt like he could take on the whole world. It was a rush. Just as fast as that rush of power came, it dissipated. Hunter pulled hands away. He looked winded.

"Alright. That's one thing out of the way... You both have some pretty strong auras. It's impressive. You should be able to call on your full auras it at will now." He said. "Now, if you're both up to it, let's get you both started on your training."

Hunter put the two to work quickly. Indigo was unusually eager to start to the point it made Nick nervous. Indigo focused on building muscle and strength, while Nick focused more on techniques styles. Many months passed as they worked, beginning to show their more unique styles of fighting and training. Hunter always kept the two busy, constantly pushing them to their limits. What annoyed Nick was how Indigo avoided them, training by herself a lot. After a year, they unlocked their semblances.

It was another cold day out, Nick was outside the house, surrounded by forest. He stopped bothering to wear a jacket after he had unlocked his semblance, he didn't need it. He just stuck to a pair of ripped jeans and a long shirt. He was practicing with a pair of sticks by maneuvering them. Though he didn't really need too, it just helped him think. He heard the door from the house open. He stopped and turned his attention. Hunter stood in the doorway, wearing the same hooded cloak they met in. Along with his staff that he used as his walking stick and weapon.

"I need to go retrieve supplies from the nearby town. I trust you two can take care of yourselves." Hunter said, Nick nodded. Hunter closes the door behind him and walked up to Nick.

"Also, kid could you do me a favor while i'm gone?" Hunter asked. Without waiting for Nicks response, he continued.

"I'm getting a little worried how hard Indigo's been pushing herself. Maybe you could talk to her or something. I don't know. It's not really healthy for her to be going that long for so hard and she won't listen to me." He explained.

"I'll do what I can, though I doubt I'll be able to do much better." Nick sighed.

Indigo didn't interact with them much, and it's only gotten worse. She's been training all the time, and it's made both of them concerned. This has been her longest training marathon so far, and neither of them liked how hard she was pushing herself. Hunter nodded, satisfied.

"Well, i'll be off. Take care." He said, and began walking into the forest, through the small trail that connected the house to the main road.

Once he had disappeared into the forest, Nick jabbed the sticks into the dirt. Might as well try. He wiped the sweat off his face and began to walk around the house. He could hear the sounds of her bench pressing already. When he got around the other side of the small house, which served as a training clearing, he spotted her. She was wearing exercise clothes, lifting a dumbbell loaded with more weight then most people their age could lift. What concerned him was she looked exhausted. She was drenched in sweat, her arms shaking a little as she lifted it and her breathing was heavy. Nick knew he had to stop her before she hurt herself.

He controlled himself from running up to her. Instead, he approached her at a normal pace.

"Indigo, you have a minute?" He asked.

"No, go away." She responded, her voice tired. Nick sighed.

"It's important, you don't look so good. You need to rest." Nick warned.

"I'm fine. Leave me alone." She said, and did another rep. Nick sighed, there was only one way to make her stop. Eyeing her weak grip on the dumbbell, he activated his semblance. He thrust his hands out, and a blast of raw flame exploded from his arms. He overshot the blast. The force from the blast sent the dumbbell out of hands and back to the edge of the house. He stumbled back a few feet, breathing a little harder then he was a few minutes ago. He didn't have full control of it yet.

Indigo sat up from the bench, an angry look on her tired face. She opened her mouth to speak, but Nick spoke first.

"Look at yourself! You're a mess. You need to down before you pass out. You don't eat, sometimes you don't even sleep over training! You're going to kill yourself overdoing it!" Nick yelled. "Why are you hurting yourself like this?!" He asked, his voice was filled with worry for her.

She seemed to be hurt by that.

"Why do you care? I don't need you looking out for me anymore!" She replied angrily.

"Because you're my only friend! I want to help you! I can't do that when you're working yourself to death!" Nick snapped.

"Well I don't need your help anymore! I'm strong enough to stand on my own now!..." she yelled, she was beginning to cry. She pulled herself to sit on the bench normally, and held her head in her hands. Nick sighed, and walked over to the bench. He picked up her tail so he wouldn't sit on it, sat next to her and laid it back over his lap.

"Indigo... What are you trying to do?" He asked comfortingly. He put an arm around her and waited for her to calm down enough to speak.

"You... You always take care of me... I'm always relying on you... I... I just wanted to be strong like you... So you wouldn't have to be burdened... by me... So I wouldn't need your help... I... I don't want to be that little girl who couldn't even reach her grandparents in time!" she finally said through her crying.

Nick sighed.

"Indigo... Hunter once told me that real strength isn't being able to do everything alone, it's knowing when to ask your friends for help. You can build yourself up your entire life, but if you can't ask for help then you'll never be strong." Nick said, doing his best to comfort her. "It's okay to need someone to lean on, I need to sometimes too... Please, come rest. Slow down, train with me some time. I miss my friend." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"I... I'm sorry..." she mumbled. Nick returned the hug.

"Hey, let's get you cleaned up and rested. Just promise me if you want to tell me something, you will." Nick said. She nodded. The two broke away and got off the bench.

As she walked inside to clean up, Nick looked over at the dumbbell. The rod was bent from the shockwave of his blast. Hunter isn't going to be happy about that. He walked back around the house, finding the sticks he stabbed into the ground. He pulled them back out, and began practicing swinging them again, hoping their new mentor would return soon.


	5. Chapter V

Six years have now passed since Nick and Indigo began their training with Hunter. He tried to keep them updated with normal academics as well as combat training. Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, Indigo's sixtieth had arrived. Their teacher had left a few hours ago, saying he had a gift for both of them.

Nick had insisted they take the day off to relax, as they had been having a sparring marathon with Hunter for a few days. He felt they earned some rest. He sat on the couch, thinking on how went from being a ragged street rat to a skilled huntsman in training. He was wearing the new outfit he preferred to wear on huntsman business, combat boots, black jeans, a dark red T-shirt that matched the color of his aura and a brown leather jacket over that. Over a time he visited the town, he got his hair dyed a dark blue over a bet with Indigo. He kept the knife he owned for so many years in a sheath around his leg. He reflected on how much he had physically changed, he was taller, faster, and stronger than he used to be. Though Indigo sometimes teased him about being taller.

It wasn't long before he heard a door open down the hall. He turned his head and saw Indigo walking down the hall. She had grown too, she looked like a professional bodybuilder. She kept her hair cut and tidy while Nick let his grow out into a tangled mess. She radiated her powerful aura around her even without it activated.

Today, her hair was wet, she wore a pair of jeans and white tank top. Not what she usually wore when not doing huntsmen business, unlike Nick who practically lived in his outfit. "Use up all the hot water again?" Nick asked teasingly, she rolled her eyes as she continued walking into the main room.  
"It's not like you can't just make more if you wanted, though I'm not sure you ever take a shower anyway." She replied. She made her way over to the chair on the other side of the table and say down in it, curling her tail into her lap. She was always protective and sensitive about it.

After she had gotten comfortable, she stared directly at Nick in the way he usually found intimidating.

"So, any idea about what he meant by having a gift for us?" She asked seriously, he shook his head.

"Not a clue," Nick responded with a shrug.

"Bull crap."

"Well, no spoilers." Nick laughed, which left her frustrated. It was a pretty good idea, but he didn't want to be wrong himself and let her have something to hold over his head.

"Nickel Veras, you better not be holding out on me." Indigo warned. Nick rolled his eyes.

"I told you not to call me that, also trust me. If i'm right, it'll be worth the surprise." He assured. She huffed in defeat and slouched back into the chair.

They continued small tall for a few hours, before they heard the door open.

"Hey kids." The gruff voice of their teacher called in, and the cool closed behind him. He walked into the main room. He aged well over the years they've known him, he looked the same though had more wrinkles. Today he was carrying a large, thick, black case. He set it down from the table, and began removing his cloak. "Go ahead and open it. I think you should be able to tell who's who." He said.

Nick didn't hesitate, he unlatched the heavy case and pulled it open, inside contained exactly what he thought. On his side, he pulled out two identical heavy swords, the hilts were wrapped in leather and a small cross guard stopped at the scabbard, which was made to hold a leaf styled blade. A small red line of crystal ran through the middle of the cross guard. He looked up from his prize to see Indigo admiring hers.

Her gift, was two long, shinning, thick metal gloves. The outsides of the fingers seemed extra thick. Nick smirked.

"So, like I thought, that crap you made us do about designing a weapon wasn't pure crap." Nick said. Hunter laughed.

"Ya caught on kid. You detailed yours down to a T, so I guess you had my thoughts figured out from the moment I handed you both a paper." Hunter responded. Indigo eyed Nick with some annoyance.

"You knew from the start didn't you?" She asked. Nick shrugged.

"Most huntsmen and huntresses design their own weapons. It helps to know your tool of trade from the heart." He said.

"That's exactly right kid. I built my weapon myself, overload. It's gotten me far in life." Hunter said. "I had to do a little extra estimations on Indigo's since they were more complex with vaguer description. Though they should work just fine." He added.

Nick pulled the blade out of its scabbard a little to examine it. The blade didn't make a smooth metal sound and instead made a grinding noise. The blade was a glassy black. He pushed the blade back into the scabbard.

"If I can ask, why'd you want those to be heavy like that? Most duel swords are light and fast." Hunter asked, Nick shrugged.

"These'll hit harder. Besides, they're not that bad. I'll just get used to it." Nick said, standing up and beginning to strap the swords to his back. Meanwhile, Indigo had also found one more thing in the container. It looked like a smooth bunch of cloth and metal.

"Figured you wanted some better but still maneuverable armor. Aura'll take you only so far kid, even with one like yours." Hunter commented to Indigo. "Go suit up, and meet me outside. There's one more thing I have for you to do." Hunter said and stepped out the door. He closed it behind him, and Nick looked up at her.

"So, what's so special about those gloves?" He asked. She smiled.

"You'll see." She responded cryptically. She carried her new weapons and armor to the hallway and disappeared into her room.

When she came out, she was wearing the new armor. It was a simple body suit, with thick metal plates over her torso, back, arms, legs and feet. Though her main joints lacked plates for seeming easier movement. A belt holding ammunition magazines wrapped around her waist. Also for comfort, her tail was left uncovered. Her new glove weapons also almost seemed to shine.

"What do ya think?" Nick asked.

"It's light like i'm not wearing anything. Though it feels tough and can take a few more hits." She commented. "Though I might cover it with something. It doesn't exactly leave as much to the imagination as I thought." Nick shrugged.

"At least you get armor. I don't at all. I add anything and I lose movement speed. Which is pretty important, so stop complaining when you get the best of both." He said. She rolled her eyes.

"He says as he gets heavy duel swords," she shoots back.

"Normal ones are crap for landing good hits. Anyway, let's go see what he wanted." With that, the two turned the door Hunter went through and proceeded outside.

Hunter left his cloak by the door, revealing his normal clothes and holding his staff.

"Alright, you two look like pros. Come here." He said, a evil smirk on his face. As they approached, he began explaining. "Today's lesson is simple. Kill more Grimm then me." He said. Both students gave him a grouchy look. He continued before they could say anything. "Yes, I'm aware it may seem unfair, so I'll have a handicap." He took his staff, walked behind them and drew a line behind them. "I'm only going to be killing what gets past this line. So ya might not want any to get past you." He said, with that. He walked halfway toward the house and turned around, twirling his staff lightly in his hand. "Here they come."

Shortly after he had finished speaking, the howls of Grimm filled the forest. It wasn't the first time they've fought Grimm anymore. Hunter sometimes brought one or two into the forest with his semblance to assist him in teaching something before having us dispose of it. Though when the sounds of them approaching down the path became more apparent, it still sent a rush through Nick. He reached behind him and felt the handles of his swords. He grabbed onto the handles, swiftly drawing then for the first time. The unique grinding sound gave him a smile. He twirled them in his hands as he got into his fighting stance. He heard metal sliding against metal. He looked over to see Indigo had taken her fighting stance, her fist balled, and three claw-like blades stuck out of the top of her knuckles.

The first Grimm began to emerge from the forest. Just as the first Beowolves began to emerge, rapid shots rang out. Indigo's gloves had a tube emerge from them, and one of the magazines pushed into the back of the glove parallel with her arm. She had switched her stance and was unleashing fire on the Grimm as their heads popped out of the clearing. Most of them fell from the rain of fire before even leaving the tree line. Determined not to be outdone, he pointed the end of his sword at one of the approaching Grimm and focused. The blade began to glow orange from the inside-out. He had activated his semblance and willed a controlled burst of condensed flame out the end of the sword.

For once, the output of power was exactly what he wanted. Not too much, not too little. The jet of flame blasted into the Grimm. It was knocked back, melting into a pool of darkness. Nick smirked, his idea worked. Red crystals were the key to accurately controlling his semblance. He pointed the other sword at Grimm and willed another burst of flame. Together, the two's ranged attacks held the Grimm back for a little. Though they began to advance out of the trees into the clearing.

"I'm almost out." Indigo warns. Nick felt his aura starting to drop as well.

"Launch me." Nick says. She nodded and stopped firing, the blades retracted into her gloves. Nick jumped into the air as she ducked under him. She grabbed his feet and launched him toward the enemy as he simultaneously jumped off her. He felt her aura force him toward the Grimm that were now coming through the trees in fewer numbers.

Nick spins himself forward as the first Grimm gets close. Using the momentum from spinning himself, he brings down both blades on its head. They cut through like butter. The Grimm dissolved as he landed behind where it was originally standing. Without any breathing time, he launched himself to the left where the next Grimm was. He slashed both swords up, which cut its head clean off. He looked toward his right, where a third Grimm was charging him. Before it could get any closer, in the blink of an eye, Indigo launched herself and punched it. Her aura attack caused a shockwave that sent the Grimm flying back and dissolving into darkness. Dozens of dark puddles that were once Grimm lay scattered through the small battlefield.

"That's good." They hear their teacher call out. "That's two packs total, not bad, given both you both spent most of that at range. Though fair's fair." Hunter said, walking toward them. "Congratulations kids. You've passed the last test I have to give." Hunter said.

"Wait what?" Indigo asked. Hinter huffs.

"Basically now, you go to Vale." He said.

He lead the two inside and had them sit down on the couch before he began to explain more.

"I've taught you all you need to know on fighting, though that doesn't make you huntsmen on it's own. You have to go to one of the main schools for it. Nearest one is Beacon Academy. The headmaster there's a nice guy." Hunter explained. "So here's your final test from me. Travel to Beacon, pass the entrance exams which should be easy for two heavy hitters such as yourself. Then survive the next four years. Do all that, and you're huntsmen." The two sat for a moment and let that sink in.

"Well, you're coming with us right?" Nick asked. Their teacher shook his head.

"Wouldn't be much of a test if I was constantly covering for you." Hunter replied. "Unless you'd rather not be huntsmen and waste seven years of our time. Of course i'll come visit my favorite students once they've settled in, but you gotta make the trip yourself."

He let that sink in for a minute, before Nick stood up.

"I'm going." He said emotionlessly and walked down the hallway without another word.

They didn't have much to pack. Mostly just essentials. Hunter and Nick both seemed rather depressed about the situation. Finally, the sun began to set. Nick had his bag over his blades. He looked back at the house they lived in for seven years. Hunter stood at the door.

"I'm proud of you kids. You've come a long way." He said. He gave them a thumbs up. "This definitely isn't a goodbye, but good luck out there." Nick looked down at the ground.

"Thank you, for everything." He responded. With that, he turned and began the walk toward the forest. Indigo trailed behind him, having said her goodbye after he walked away. They made their way to the main road and began the long walk south, towards a new horizon in their lives.


	6. Chapter VI

Nick's nightmare was stronger then normal tonight. He saw his village up in flames, the words of his mother disowning him ran through his head. The Grimm attacking his younger self as he stood there helplessly trying to defend his only friend. He was too weak to help her. He was too weak to help himself. He was too weak to face her again. All this ran through his head in a repetitive loop, growing louder and louder in his head.

He awoke with a jolt, breathing heavily, he sat up only to hit his head hard against something.

"Ow!" He heard someone complain, which he later realized was Indigo. He quickly pressed his hand to his now sore forehead for a minute. After the pain subsided, he finally began to register his surroundings. Indigo sat on her knees looming over him, rubbing her forehead lightly. Grass covered by a simple thick blanket underneath him, and the world dimly lit by the sun shining through the trees onto the clearing of the nearby road. They camped out beside it for the night after a dangerous week of traveling. Random Grimm were common, but not much of an issue. They just took turns keeping watch when they rested.

Nick instantly felt embarrassed,

"Sorry." He said quickly and pressed his hand against forehead slightly where they collided.

"You okay?" She asked. "You weren't looking too good there, you were turning and muttering in your sleep."

"I'm fine." Nick lied, sitting up. "Let's break camp and get back on the road. ee're almost there and we're almost out of food, so it'd be nice to have something when we get to Vale." Indigo didn't pressure him. They broke their little camp on the side and continued on. They ate the small amount of the rest of their food supplies on the go, figuring they were close. Once they finally set sights on the walled kingdom of Vale, which they stopped for a minute to gaze at in awe. It was only a quick walk to the kingdom gates.

The pair walked down the streets in awe, the concrete jungle of the kingdom's city was completely foreign to the two. All they had were some Lien split between them, their bags and wits. They wandered the kingdom, and eventually briefly argued weather to ask for directions or not. Indigo winning the argument eventually, and they asked a local shopkeeper for directions to Beacon Academy. They had to take an airship to the famous academy. Indigo fell asleep next to him on the airship bench, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He watched the random people, mostly students from the looks of things wander the ship. He wondered what brought them here.

It wasn't long before his question was answered. People began crowding to the windows, gasping and acting excited. He nudged Indigo, waking her up. She yawned and stretched her arms.

"We there yet?" She asked.

"Well everyone isn't getting excited over nothing." He responded. Nick stood and pushed his way to a nearby window through the crowd. Below the academy almost seemed to shine. The courtyard was dotted in cherry blossoms, the Vale crest at its center. The school building itself was an elegant white castle. Nick stared in awe, he'd never seen anything so huge before. Even the large buildings of Vale's city were trumped by the castle.

"What's with all the..." Indigo started to ask but stopped as she witnessed the sight of the school.

As the airship landed and the few people aboard began to flood onto the campus. Nick and Indigo followed around, a few groups, trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, they found the group looking to take the entrance exams. They seemed about as confused as they were.

A large teacher in a blazer and intimidatingly thick mustache came over and directed the two through the school courtyard into the large school building. Though it still wasn't long before they hit another snag. Most of the people in the group came from a local combat school. Because Nick and indigo didn't, they had to take a physical test like their former teacher warned them of. The man who was leading the group was kind enough to direct them to the area that teat was given. They felt slightly relived as they split from the rest of that group. They last heard the man began to tell what appeared to be was going to be a long story.

Nick took the tests first. He flew through both the physical and written tests with ease. He had left the testing room wondering if it was a joke. He spent a few minutes explaining to Indigo what the tests were like to calm her down, as she seemed nervous about them. Though he didn't have much time before it was her turn, leaving him alone in a small empty waiting room.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but eventually he felt himself waking up to his shoulder being shaken. He opened his eyes to see Indigo standing next to his chair, her tired expression matching the rest of her. After he finished waking up for a moment, he finally spoke.

"So, how'd it go for you?" He asked.

"The physical test was laughably easy, and they had the nerve to say it was hard. The written test was what took so long." She explained. Nick found that test easy too, but remembered that Indigo sometimes skipped out for training whenever they were trying to be taught something else.

"Maybe if you payed attention to Hunter instead of sneaking off to train, it would've been easier." Nick said with a shrug. She sighed and sat down next to him.

"It doesn't matter now. We either get in or we don't." She grumbled.

They sat there, waiting for someone to come in and tell them their results as they were instructed. An hour passed, and the door into the waiting room finally opened. A middle aged man walked through, his hair white as snow and held a cane. His strange spectacles hid part of brown eyes, but not all of them. He cleared his throat as he entered the room.

"Nick Veras and Indigo Kani, yes?" He asked politely, taking a seat in the chair across from them in the room. They nodded. "My name is Professor Ozpin, and I am the headmaster of this school." He said.

"You definitely look the part." Nick joked. The headmaster smiled lightly.

"Did we pass or not?" Indigo asked bluntly, leaning back in her chair and Nick swatted her arm. The professor just chuckled.

"Straight to the point is it? You both passed the physical test with flying colors. As for the written test, it appears Mr. Veras here excelled while Ms. Kani was frankly rather close for comfort on passing." He explained. Indigo looked down at the floor and seemed embarrassed.

"However, both of you have easily landed a spot here at Beacon Academy and are definitely going to be interesting students." Ozpin said. She perked her head up. "Now, in a hour, all the new students are to gather in the main auditorium for the opening ceremony of the semester. It would be wise if you didn't miss it." He said, standing and walking out of the room.

Nick stood eagerly from his seat.

"Well, let's get down to business." Nick said. Indigo nodded, without saying a word and stood as well. The two walked out of the waiting room back to the main campus, which was now flooded with people going about their day. Nick shuffled through the crowd. Looking for anyone who might be heading to the same place as him. He eventually realized Indigo wasn't next to him. He scanned the crowd in search of her. He felt himself getting shoved aside. He caught himself as a man, a foot taller, then him pushed past him. His body was coated in thick dark blue armor and had a strange double sided black axe.

"Watch it." He grunted. His voice deep and strong.

Nick would've have cared less if he wasn't shoved into someone else who was knocked over by it.

"Hey, watch out." She said in an accent.

"Sorry, I got shoved." Nick replied and helped her up. She was shorter then him, though she had large rabbit ears sprouting from the top of her head. She was wearing a short brown jacket over a black shirt, brown shorts, black leggings and gold details.

"Oh, it happens I guess." She said. "By any chance... Do you know where the main auditorium is?" She asked, pushing her long brown hair back behind her shoulders.

"I was honestly about to ask you the same thing." Nick responded and chuckled nervously.

He noticed some of the people his age in the crowd were shuffling towards a school entrance. He doubted it would hurt to try.

"Well, we could try over there, seems there's a good amount of people our age heading that way." Nick suggested to the girl. She nodded meekly, and they began pushing their way through the now thinning crowd.

"So, what's your name?" Nick asked, trying to make conversation as she was following him for a lack of better ideas.

"Velvet Scarlatina..." she responded shyly.

"Nick Veras." He replied. She came off as shy to him, though he can make due until he found Indigo. Besides, she was kinda cute.

Nicks hunch was right. It wasn't long before they reached the main auditorium. It was decently crowded with new students of a lot of verities. Though he hasn't spotted Indigo yet.

"So... Who are you looking for?" Velvet asked, which snapped him out of it.

"Oh, just a friend who came here with me. She got lost in the crowd somewhere." Nick explained.

"Oh, I don't really know anybody here." She muttered.

"I can relate... Though I guess... We know each other right?" Nick asked nervously with a shrug.

"I guess." She responded.

The talking among the students began to grow quiet as the man he recognized as Professor Ozpin walked onto the stage. He waited patiently for everyone to talk down before clearing his throat and beginning to speak.

"Thank you, I won't take up much of your time, as I'm sure you have all just arrived after a long journey. Whether it be from across the kingdom or across the world. You have all come here with the goal of perfecting your skills and abilities. Afterwards, you plan to go use these skills and abilities to spent your life helping others in their time of need. Though when I look at all of you gathered here, I simply see a lack of direction. A lack of purpose and reason. You think that knowledge may be the answer. However, in time you shall come to learn that knowledge will only help you so much. It falls to you to put in the effort." The students mummed among themselves. "Now, tonight you are to sleep in the ballroom and tomorrow we shall begin your official initiations and assign teams. That is all, good luck."

With his speech concluded, Ozpin walked off the stage and disappeared from sight. It wasn't long before the floor erupted with loud banter.

"We should get out of here before we get trampled trying to leave later" Nick suggested.

"Okay" Velvet responded, and the they made their way out of the auditorium back outside.

As Nick predicted, most of the crowd was trying to leave all at once, shoving and pushing their way through the doors.

"Hey" Nick heard in a familiar voice. Indigo was walking up to them from the crowd, being followed by a purple haired girl. She wore a pair of jeans and a dark red shirt with a simple breastplate over it. She wore strange red gauntlets matching the color of her shirt. Her hair was cut short, and jet black. He scanned her for what her weapon was, but couldn't see anything beyond possibly her gauntlets.

"See you ran into someone too." Indigo commented. It at this angle Nick finally noticed she had wrapped her tail round her waist, mostly hidden by her ammo belt but what was showing seemed like part of the fabric. He wondered how long she had it like that, and decided to ask her later.

"Yeah, this is Velvet" he finally answered.

"I'm Amber." The girl behind Indigo commented.

"I'm... Going looking for the ballroom." Velvet said. Nick noted the sun beginning to set.

"I'll go with you." Amber commented.

Without much else to do, the four began their search in the labyrinth of a school that they'll be spending the next four years at for the ballroom.


	7. Chapter VII

After over an hour of wandering the school, the four had finally found their way to the ballroom. The lavish school hallways were mostly empty, except for an older woman in a purple cape who stood at the ballroom entrance.

"Welcome students. My name is Gylnda Goodwitch" She said as they approached, her tone bored. "Please, leave your weapons here with me while they aren't being used."

Nick instantly felt uneasy about handing over his swords. He had been through a lot, and they've come in handy during the trip here more then he was willing to part with on a whim. Indigo looked like she felt the same.

"Um, no." She said, her nose wrinkled.

"They will be stored in a special locker for you to retrieve later that you can open with a provided code." Glynda responded.

"That doesn't make me feel any better. I think I'll hold onto them." Indigo almost growled. Velvet handed Glynda a box camera attached to her belt. While Amber removed her gloves and a thin cylinder with a row of buttons lining down it to hand over. Nick eventually decided it would be less trouble to hand over his swords. He began to undo the sheathes.

"Young lady. You are to do as your told for the safety of our students." Glynda chided Indigo as she took the others weapons.

"These things have kept me alive on the way here, I'm not giving them up without question." She snapped back, obviously trying not to straight up yell in her face.

"Indigo... please." Velvet suddenly said quietly, looking at her.

"Yeah. No point making a scene here if we'll get them back." Nick said.

Indigo glared angrily at him, though for some reason she calmed down a little more when she looked over at Velvet.

"…Fine. Whatever." She grumbled. Pulling off her gauntlets and handing them to Glynda.

"Thank you, the boys and girls are separated on opposite ends of the hall. Though they can interact until it is time to rest." Glynda said. She also gave everyone a slip of paper with the number and code of their lockers. With that, the four proceeded into the ballroom. Nick broke off from the girls over to the boys side of the room. He hoped to find a decent place to rest without having to sleep next to somebody weird.

Nick found a clear spot to place his bag down. He realized he had been carrying around all week with no break. He dug out a simple roll out mat laid out for him to sleep on later from the bag, along with his scroll. He couldn't remember when Hunter gave them their scrolls, and they never used them. Though their teacher insisted they both pack them. Nick pocketed the scroll after putting in the number of the locker he was given and pocketed it.

"That's my spot." He heard behind him in a familiar dark and strong voice.

He turned to see the same guy who had shoved into him earlier standing over him, glaring down at him.

"Didn't seem to have your name on it, whatever that may be." Nick shrugged. He pointed at a small backpack next to Nicks spot.

"That's mine."

"Well, there's plenty of room next to me for you to sleep on. Not like there's a shortage here." He grunted and stepped around Nick. He rolled his eyes slightly.

"So, what's your name?" He asked.

"Navy." He grunted in response and began digging through his own bag.

Their conversation over, Nick saw Indigo walking over to the center of the area where the two groups were intermingling. He walked over to meet her. She had apparently found somewhere to change out of her battle suit and into her tank top and shorts to sleep in. He noted that her tail was hidden from view, possibly wrapped around her leg under her clothes.

"Settling in?" He asked her.

"It's weird sleeping next to everyone out in the open, but I'll survive." She responded, her voice still sounded annoyed from losing her weapons. Nick shrugged.

"Well, that's what happens when you spend seven years in an isolated forest." Nick joked. She rolled her eyes.

Nick sighed and decided to ask her.

"So, why are you hiding-" she cut him off.

"Shut up." She quickly hissed under her breath.

"I'd rather have people know who I am rather then what." Nick understood what she meant. He knew Vale tended to be a more tolerant culture, but still.

"Okay, I get it." Nick said, she nodded with a sigh. With the two's conversation over, they turned and walked back toward their sides of the room.

For Nick, the next day couldn't have come soon enough. He fell asleep finally hoping that Navy didn't end up as his partner, as he seemed too hard to work with. He dreamed of the fall of his home again, the burring buildings, the cries of despair. It all still haunted him almost every night, even seven years later.

He awoke with another jolt. Everyone else was working on putting away their stuff on his end already. A glance over to the girls side shows they were almost done cleaning up themselves. He slept in. He rushed to put his few belongings back in his back, which wasn't hard. As he finished packing his things again and slung his bag over his shoulder. He walked into the now well intermingled groups. Eventually, he found Indigo and Velvet within the crowd. Both wearing their huntsman outfits again.

He walked up behind Indigo and tapped her shoulder.

"Boo" he said jokingly. Indigo just rolled her eyes and moved over a little for him. "So, we have any idea what's going on with team assignments?" Nick asked. The two shook their heads.

"They haven't said anything about how they'll assign teams yet." Indigo said.

"Hey, watch it!" They heard a voice nearby them say. The three looked towards the direction of the commotion. A small clearing the crowed revealed Navy, who stood in front of a girl that wore something that looked like something a fashionista would wear.

"If you do not wish to be shoved, then move." Navy grunted. The girl he was arguing with loudly scoffed.

"Do you even know who I am? You should know better then to just go shoving me like that!" The girl complained.

"I do not and I do not care, move out of my way." Navy said. He proceeded to push past her and walk away, the angered fashionista left behind.

"Well, that was a scene." Indigo commented with a shrug.

"I love those jackets of yours" They heard, the girl who was yelling at Navy had made her way over to the three and was pointing at Nick and Velvet.

"Oh... Thanks..." Velvet muttered. Nick shrugged. Indigo grabbed Nick suddenly and began towing Nick towards the exit.

"We'll catch up with them later, let's go eat before they close the cafeteria." She said as she almost dragged him along.

It didn't take them as long to find the school cafeteria after walking into it on accident while looking for the ballroom yesterday. It was mostly empty and the two ate light. As the two finished eating, an announcement came through the loudspeakers.

"All new students please report to Beacon cliff as soon as possible." The announcer said. Nick sighed.

"Great, another place we don't know the location of." He muttered.

"We seem to be finding our way around so far. Plus, I found this." Indigo responded across the table. She dug out her scroll and tapped on the screen a little before turning it to show him. It was a map of the school.

"That would've been more helpful to have yesterday." He said.

"Well we have it now, would you rather not?" She responded.

"I'm not complaining, just saying." He sighed. "Well, I'm heading to the lockers then."

"Agreed. I feel exposed without my weapons."

"You should probably get that checked out then since you're practically a tank." Nick joked. She gave him a mockingly evil look before they headed off to the lockers.

Nick split with her to the guys locker area, he found his locker number eventually after wondering confused. He typed the locker code into the keypad, and it opened, revealing his swords sheathed away. After he got them strapped to his back, he wandered back over the entrance until Indigo was also done. Once she emerged from her side of the room, the two began their hike to the cliff.

It was a warm morning. The weather in Vale was warmer then the area they grew up in so everything felt warm. The leaves on the trees fluttered lightly in the wind on the upward trail toward the cliff.

"Any idea why we're walking up to the top of the cliff?" Indigo asked.

"Obviously so they can push us off and call it a day." Nick responded jokingly. "Other then possibly some sort of initiation, no." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

When the two reached the top of the cliff. Among the group of new and obviously confused students, Nick spied Amber in the corner if his eye wearing her the same loose fitting clothes he met her in.

"Oh, hey there's Velvet and that fashion girl." Indigo said, pointing towards the two having a conversation. Nick walked up to the two, but before he could really say anything, he heard a voice.

"Alright students. Please, find and stand on one of the Vale symbols here." The voice of the headmaster called out.

He looked down to see his foot on a single stone tile, with the symbol of Vale engraved on it. Everyone around him found similar tiles evenly spaced between each other. Quickly, the crowd had dispersed into a line. Nick noted he stood between Indigo and Velvet. With the crowd cleared, it revealed the steep cliff. Their headmaster, along with Glynda stood at the edge facing the line of students. The headmaster took a step forward and sipped from his mug.

"Good morning students. I'll also keep this brief so you can get right into todays initiation. You have all spent most your lives dedicated to becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses. For they are the symbol of the ultimate warrior. Today, your skills will be tested in the Emerald Forest. Glynda, if you please." He said, Glynda took a step forward, drawing attention away from the scroll she held in her hand.

"Most of you probably have been spreading rumors and assumptions about team assignments. Allow me to clear up this process. As of today, you shall all be assigned a teammate." She said.

Ozpin nodded, as she continued.

"Once assigned, you and your team shall be that way for the rest of your time at Beacon Academy."

"Yes, thank you." Ozpin said once she was finished. "To elaborate on that, it would be best if you were paired with those you can work well with. However. The first person you make direct eye contact with once inside the forest shall be your new direct partner for the rest of your time here."

The students muttered amongst themselves at this. Nick fought back the urge to complain. He knew Huntsman teams consisted of four people, but he was unaware that they were assembled that randomly.

"After you have found your partner, you are to make your way north until you find a abandoned temple at the end of the trails. Your task is to collect one of the relics inside and make your way back here to the top of this cliff with it. You will be graded appropriately once that is completed and later assigned to your other two teammates. Be warned, the forest is infested with The Creatures of Grimm. Do not hesitate to destroy them along with whatever else may prevent you from achieving your objective. You will die otherwise. We will be monitoring you of course, but not intervening should you be in danger. That is for you to solve yourselves." He said.

The mutters got louder. Some voices calling out excitement, others worry. Nick looked between the two he stood next to. Indigo had her usual mute expression, while Velvet looked extremely nervous.

"Does anyone have any questions about this?" Glynda asked. Nobody spoke up.

"Good, good luck to you all." Ozpin said "You're going to need it." Glynda pressed a button on her scroll, and the tiles began making clicking noises.

Someone at the far end of the line of students launched into the air, the poor guy wasn't expecting it and was failing through the air for a second before controlling himself. Everyone else quickly understood and began assuming stances for the circumstance.

One by one, people were rapidly launched off the tiles and into the air.

"See you guys on the other side." Nick said. Indigo rolled her eyes and prepared herself for the launch and Nick did the same. When he looked over at Velvet, he could tell she was nervous and excited. "Hey, i'll see you down there." Nick commented to her, she nodded. He watched her catapult into the air. He took a deep breath as he felt his feet leaving the ground and the air beginning to hit his face.


	8. Chapter VIII

Nick finally managed to open his eyes against the wind hitting his face. The glittering green of the trees shined below him. He was no longer gaining altitude. He looked around, most students were beginning to descend and doing their best to control it. Nick pulled his feet up closer to his body and stretched out his arms so his palms faced behind him. He willed his semblance to activate.

An explosion blasted out of his hands and feet, propelling him forward as trails of smoke glided off of him, making him nervous of leaving an obvious trail. He squinted as the wind blew into his face. He heard a few students complaining about his explosion behind him. He ignored them. He was farther ahead from the pack of students and was now steadily losing distance towards the thick tree line.

Just as he reached the sea of tree leaves, he quickly drew his swords. He hit the treeline hard, swords extended as he slashed through the smaller branches. He landed on thicker branches when possible to stabilize himself and jumped down to the next one. He worked his way closer to the trunk by doing this. When he finally reached the trunk and realized he ran out of branches that could support him. He jumped. He watched the ground grow closer. He took a breath and stabbed his swords into the trunk. His arms hurt from the impact but he didn't let go. His fall rapidly came to a stop as the blades sliced through the trunk. He pushed his feet against the trunk and pulled the swords out, flipping himself down onto the ground.

He sheathed his swords as he ran in what he hoped was the direction he was supposed to be going. The distant sounds of leaves rustling and tree branches snapping indicated the rest of the students were landing. He looked around as he slowed into a jog, looking for others. Quickly, the sounds of the students landing stopped quickly after the sound of a whole tree breaking in half. He decided to keep going, and it wasn't long before it felt almost too quiet. He stopped to take a break in a small clearing.

It felt weird having not run into anyone yet, and the silence of the woods was unusual. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as if he was being watched. He had learned long ago his instincts were usually right. He drew his swords and looked around. He began registering the sounds of leaves crunching, sticks breaking and low pitched growls. It wasn't long before the cause showed itself.

Grimm began emerging into the clearing. Ursa's, four of them. Nick smirked, not too hard. The first one charged him head on, it stood on its hinds legs and slashed down with his claw. Nick was ready, already in his fighting stance. He cut up, the powerful stroke cut through the Grimm's flesh like butter. It's entire claw separated from the body, dissolving instantly. He launched himself at the roaring Ursa, it's claw now missing. He spun around in the air, and his other sword met the beasts neck. It's head sliced off with as equal ease.

Before the creature could dissolve, he brought a sword down on what was left of the creature. The blade buried itself into it, and he catapulted himself over it in a whirlwind. His blade coming lose with him. He let his semblance create a small blast from his legs, propelling him towards the next one. He overshot the blast a little and barely managed to time the strike right. He spun in the air and brought both blades down onto the second ones head. The swords went through the creatures skull with a little more resistance. Which he used to push himself off the body and in an act of gymnastics, slice off its head as he landed behind it. The Ursa fell to the ground as it dissolved, and the first one already almost gone.

He turned his attention to the third one, it gazing at him in enraged caution. He allowed himself a smile. This felt good. It felt like he was finally strong enough. Strong enough to take his life back, and strong enough that he didn't have to be afraid of the Grimm. He launched himself again towards the third Grimm, his propelling explosion just right for once. The third Ursa began to slash in the air to stop him. Nick cut one sword up in the air and thrusted the other forward. The first blade cut into the arm of the creature, while the second stabbed into its face. He pulled the blade up, cutting through it's head while he tugged the other blade out. He landed on his feet as the beast fell backwards and began to dissolve.

Nick almost forgot about the fourth. The fourth Ursa roared behind him. He turned his head to see the Grimm with it's claws raised and closing in to slash him. He had an opening to strike, but couldn't bring himself to move. He stared in sudden shock at the Grimm. The feeling of power washed away, images of his home village being destroyed flashed before his eyes. The Grimm charged him, poised to strike him while he stared helplessly. He braced himself for the attack.

It never came. A blue light cut through the Ursa's arm, slicing it off and stopping on the ground. The source took a disc like shape large enough to cover his arm. A dust projection. The blue disc disappeared, and the smell of ash filled his nose. A dark grey cloud practically flew out of the trees at the same angle as the disc a moment ago. The dark cloud dispersed when it landed on the ground a few feet away after passing past it. The Ursa dissolved, after its head began to roll back.

Where the dark cloud of ash once was, stood a familiar figure in equally familiar lose clothes. Nicks senses finally returned as he sheathed his swords. The figure turned to face him.

"You missed one." She said, Amber. She was holding the handle he remembered she gave Glynda yesterday. Only now, a curved blade in the shake of a hooked sword sprouted out of the ends. The blade itself was rather see though, shown in the same blue dust projection light. The blade dissolved, and she hooked the handle onto her waist.

"I had a big breakfast, so I'm feeling slower then usual."

"Three dead Ursa's in under a minute say otherwise. Those were big ones too." She arched her eyebrow. "How long have you been following me?" He asked,

"Long enough to tell that you're good as far as combat is concerned."

"Fair enough. The temple shouldn't be too for from here. Shall we?" He asked, she nodded.

Before the two could take a step, the sounds of more Grimm, along with the sounds of miscellaneous gunshots could be heard throughout the forest.

"I'm not too interested in meeting the rest of these guys' friends." Nick said sheepishly.

"Agreed, we should hurry then."

"We can speed up as we go. Let my aura recharge a little faster." He said. She shrugged and the two began to walk out of the clearing in the same direction Nick was traveling earlier.

Nick walked ahead as they picked up the pace, pushing though the branches. The sounds of fighting surrounded them. He felt her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"That one was close," she said. He shrugged her hand off him.

"Noted, let's give them a hand." He said, she shook her head.

"Are you sure?" She asked. He turned to her and gave a slight smile.

"It's in the job description. Let's show we can get it done." He said. He actually was hoping he was pushing towards Indigo or even Velvet. Having them at his side would be reassuring, even if he didn't know Velvet all that well.

He pushed past the next set of shrubbery blocking his view. Only to come face to face with a boar shaped Grimm. His mind almost froze at the instant memory of the time he killed his first Grimm, one of a splitting likeness. He forced himself to move before he could freeze up again. He brought his hand to his sword, ready to draw it and bring the heavy duel blade onto it's head.

He didn't get the chance. He growled and began to charge. It was quickly cut down in a spinning orange blur. The Grimm dissolved. It took Nick a moment to process what happened. Someone with orange blades strapped to his arms had slashed in across the beast, cutting it's head in multiple places with plenty of force to kill it. The one who killed it was slightly strange looking. His hair, similar to Nicks was pure Orange, almost to the point of red. Matching his skin tone, shirt, and the blades attached to his armed. Only contrasted by his black jeans and shoes along his pure white eyes. "He's almost as fast as you." Amber commented.

Nick felt uneasy about that, he was never sure how fast he moved, but he was told it was fast. Though it still took him a moment to process that guy's movements.

"Thanks for the save," Nick said pulling his hand back toward his side.

"No problem. I'm Fox," The guy said, holding his hand out.

"Nick and this is Amber." He said, shaking the boy's hand. Amber nodded in recognition, but said nothing. The sound of something falling over made everyone turn their attention.

The fashionista girl form earlier today, holding a black briefcase, was walking over towards them away from a dissolving Grimm. Her head held high.

"Honestly Fox, we trudged all that way in that messy forest only to find an easy made path we could've taken instead. Now I have to wash the grass stains off my new clothes." She complained. Despite the fact Nick couldn't see any on her. Fox shrugged.

"Sorry, didn't know." He responded calmly.

"Oh, it's fine, oh hey it's you two again. I don't think I ever caught your names." She said, turning to Nick and Amber.

"Oh, it's Nick." He said, noting her possibly staring at him under her sunglasses.

"Amber." She said simply.

"Ohh, pretty name. I'm Coco." She said.

With the introductions out of the way, Nick looked around the new area. They had obviously reached the edge of the forest, the wall of green replaced with clear, rolling hills. The next tree line was a good distance away. Though they didn't go far before a cliff similar to the one they launched off. In the center of the giant clearing, stood a circular wall of stones that used to be a building. Though now most of it was gone and grown over with moss. A section of the wall was missing, revealing an entry to the stone building.

"Think that might be it?" Nick asked, pointing toward the stone structure.

"One way we'll know for sure." Coco replied, beginning her walk toward the structure.

Once they got into the structure. Mossy stone pillars stood, almost perfectly spaced out. However, on top of them stood statues that looked brand new. Small, black, white, red, and blue statues of various animals were placed on each pillar. He took note of each relic and each variation. The Red and Blue statues of a cat resembled more of a puma while the black and white ones resembled a lion.

Nick walked over and picked up a black lion statue. It was small enough to fit in one of his jacket pockets.

"Alright got our relic." He said.

"Isn't it bad luck to pick a black cat?" She asked, Nick shrugged.

"We'll make our own luck, plus it was closer then the others." Nick said dryly. Amber sighed.

"Hey Fox, this is cute." Coco called out, she was holding a red Fox. She handed it to him.

"It's a Red Fox, just like you. It matches!" She said. Fox ran his hands over the statue before handing it back.

"Very funny." He said. Though he was smiling slightly.

"You're no fun." She complained, pocketing the small statue.

Nick smiled at the pun, though with their mission only halfway done, he held back the feelings of accomplishment. They weren't done yet.

"Let's get out of here, Coco, you said there was a path back right?" Nick spoke up.

"Well, there were a few paths, but one led directly back to the cliff." She responded.

"Alright, guess we'll head back that way, plus is might be safer if we all stick together. He said.

"You didn't have to tell me twice, ugh I'm not trudging through that gross forest again." Nick wondered to himself her reason for being here, but decided it didn't matter for now. He turned to step out of the temple ruins.

He barely took two steps out of the ruins before things went sideways before his eyes. Trees began falling out of the forest with loud snaps and cracks. The source of this quickly reveals itself. A large scorpion Grimm was pushing it's way into the clearing. Two people stood on it's back, holding its tail down to its body, the barb of its stinger barely stabbing into the creature. Nick realized the two people who were riding the Grimm were Navy and Indigo.

"Now!" Navy yelled, they jabbed the stinger into the Grimm. It hissed in pain. Indigo let go of the tail and ran up its body toward its head. She jumped off its body and turned in the air, raising her clenched fists in the air.

As she fell, she brought them down onto the creatures head, it's legs buckled and it came down with her. The creatures head slammed into the group, spewing dirt in all directions from the force of the blow. An almost invisible wave rippled through the air, indicating Indigo's aura attack. She wasted no time. She raised her hands off the head of the scorpion and her gauntlets claws sprouted of them. She stabbed them back down into the beasts head. It struggled and began to smoke, indicating it's fate has been sealed. She pulled the blades out of its head and dodged one of its claws. Navy let go of the tail and jumped off the Grimm. The two ran away from the dissolving beast until it had fully dissolved. They slowed their pace toward the temple.

Nick gave a wave to the two partners. Even though they trained together, he was still slightly chilled by Indigo's raw powerful strikes that contrasted his style of fighting. By now, the others had made their way out of the temple, having caught the tail end of the fight. Nick faced Indigo as they walked up, her claws retracting back into the gauntlets.

"You're late." Nick said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"Not our fault, that stunt you pulled during the launch knocked most of us off course." She responded. Navy grunted.

"I'm surprised these four are still standing. They do not appear to be skilled warriors," He said. Indigo glared at him.

"Just go get a relic." She said.

"I do not take orders from you."

"Fine i'll do it then." She muttered, and marched into the temple.

Nick walked in with her, hoping to catch up with her and leaving the others outside.

"Did I miss something?" He asked. She shrugged, looking at her selection.

"He's lucky I haven't snapped his neck already. He's done nothing but irritate and insult me." She complained.

"Ah."

"Though on the way down I hit him with a tree so I don't feel too bad about it." She shrugged, picking a white cat statue.

"Wait, what?" Nick asked with slight concern.

"I landed by grabbing into a tree trunk and bending the whole thing. It snapped, and he happened to be right below the tree I used to stop my fall." She explained. Nick laughed briefly.

"Well, it's only four years right?" Nick asked jokingly.

"Shut up" she snapped back as they made their way out of the temple again.

When they walked out, Navy approached them.

"Do you have the relic?" He asked, looking at Indigo, she nodded.

"Good. Give it to me," he grunted. Indigo gave him an angry glare.

"Now why would I do that since you wouldn't even go in and get it yourself?" She asked, her tone slightly frustrated.

"It will be safer with me rather then you, as-"

She didn't let him finish. She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up in the air, despite being shorter then him, she definitely was a lot stronger than she appeared. Her claws formed, almost nicking the side of his face.

"Let me make one thing clear to you. If you finish that sentence or continue insulting me, I will remove your head and toss it over my shoulder without a second thought. I refuse to do all your work and let you take anything from it. So shut up." She said at him, her voice dangerously cool.

"Put... Me down... Before... I remove that arm..." Navy growled, grabbing at her arm.

"That's enough, both of you." Nick snapped.

"You're supposed to be partners and Huntsmen. We don't kill each other because we don't like one another, so save it for the Grimm." He stated angrily.

The two looked at him, she sighed and released him, dropping him to his feet. Which was only an inch or two in the air anyway.

"You stay out of-" Navy began, but was cut off.

"Uhh, boys. Hate to cut your measuring contest short, but look." Coco said, pointing into the sky. Two bird like Grimm, Nevermores, were circling the area. One seemed to have something in its claws.

"What is it?" Fox asked. Coco whispered something in his ear that was met with a simple 'oh'.

"Think we should help them?" Indigo asked.

"What?" Nick responded, confused. She pointed at the one that was holding something in its claws.

"Those are people." She explained. Nick understood now, looking at it for a second, he could make out two people in its claws.  
"Yeah, we probably should..." Nick said, but before they could do anything, The Grimm squawked in pain, and released the two people it was holding. The two fell, stretching out their bodies and slowing their fall. The bigger guy, his form matching Navy's form with green armor and an orange great-sword on his back landed first. He landed right into the ground with a thud. He stood slowly and proceeded to catch the second one in his arms before putting her down. Nick realized the smaller one was Velvet.

He jogged over to them. The rest of the not formed group behind him.

"Jeez, everyone's here now." He said.

"Hey Nick." She said. "This is Yatsuhashi." She said. Her partner said nothing but nodded in recognition.

"Perhaps we should save the introductions for later." Amber finally said. Nick almost forgot she was still here, but she was right.

"We'll catch up." Velvet said, and beginning to head to the temple. Her partner following behind her. One of the Grimm began to dive towards them. Nick remembered something about this type of Grimm.

"Scatter!" He said quickly, jumping away from the group. The Grimm flung its wings, sending feathers speedily flying towards them like darts.

Everyone got the message and narrowly avoided the barrage of razor sharp feathers.

"Enough of this." Navy grunted. He pulled his large axe off his back and twirled the handle over his shoulder. The weird looking axe began to transform as he twirled it until a large cylinder with a hole pointing out of it like a barrel pointed out into the air. He aimed the end of it towards the Grimm and the sound of what almost sounded like a cannon going off exploded from the tube. A harpoon with a rope attached between the projectile and its launcher flew threw the air and impaled itself into the neck of the giant bird. Navy grabbed the rope and pulled it down towards the ground, the rope went taunt and the Grimm stopped in the air.

Coco walked past Nick, having dived away in the same direction as him.

"Hold it there." She said, she pushed a latch on her briefcase and it opened up. The case also began to transform, until she was holding a large minigun. The barrels began to spin as she aimed it towards the flying Grimm. A torrent of bullets fired, her shots were a little off at first but she adjusted without stopping. They ripped through the Grimm and tore it to pieces. It disintegrated and she stopped. The harpoon Navy fired began to fall to the ground, he pressed a now visible red button on the side of the launcher the rope began to retract into the weapon, bringing the harpoon with it. He caught it and put it back inside the launcher. He twirled the launcher back in the direction it formed and it transformed back into an axe, which he promptly put over his shoulder.

Coco's minigun began compacting and folding back into it's briefcase state. Velvet and Yatsuhashi emerged from the temple and began their way towards the group. The other one screeched as it circled the area.

"Well, shall we leave before the other one decides to attack?" Coco said.

"I can get behind that." Nick said. She smirked slightly.

"Cowards, is it not our jobs to kill these beasts." Navy grumbled.

"There's a difference between running and living to fight another day." Nick said, "Besides, it might just follow us through the forest anyway if someone else doesn't deal with it."

When everyone had regrouped, they retreated back into the forest on the discovered path before the other Grimm could begin firing more feathers at them. It was an uneventful walk back through the forest, and wasn't long before the group was back at the other end of it. Instead of the path leading them straight up the cliff like they hoped, instead, ruins along with a ravine greeted them. The steep cliff loomed over them, with no clear way up.

"So, any ideas on how to get up there?" Coco asked. Nick smirked.

"We'll figure it out on the fly." He said. Before anyone else could say anything, he broke into a run. He ran onto the ruins bridge. As the bridge ran out, he activated his semblance again. He leaped off the bridge and used a blast from his legs to send himself onto the roof of the ruined building. Without stopping, he launched himself between pillars on the ruins.

On the last one, he overshot. The blast destroyed the top of the last pillar and sent him flying toward the wall. He felt his aura weakening, and worried a little to himself he wouldn't be able to make it. He shook the doubt out of his mind and twisted his body midair, his feet went onto the cliff wall, he pushed the palms of his hands behind him and sent out another blast. He used the force to propel himself up in a weak run. Consistently sending the flaming blasts behind him.

He barely reached to top of the cliff. He overshot the last blast again and sent himself up the cliff edge. He barely managed to catch it and pull himself up. He sat down a few feet away edge of the cliff onto the ground, panting. His aura has almost run out fueling his semblance, and his whole body felt sore. Particularly his arms which took most of the explosions force.

After a minute, the rumbling sound of rocks breaking sounded from below. Nick managed to stand. Indigo suddenly appeared over the edge of the cliff, dusts from broken rocks coated her hands and feet, and Velvet clung to her back looking extremely nervous. Indigo twisted her body to face the other way and landed on the edge of the cliffside. Velvet quickly let go of her back and climbed off.

"Thanks." She said timidly. Indigo nodded. She was drenched in sweat and her face was twisted slightly in pain like she had just gone through a tough fight. Her body shimmered, a sign her aura broke, and she closed her eyes. Her body began to fall forward. Realizing she had pushed herself too far again, Nick quickly jumped forward as she began to fall, and grabbed at the back of her armor to no avail. Before she could fall over the edge, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled them both back away from the edge. He tripped and fell, her landing on top of him.

Nick grunted and pushed her off.

"Idiot, you overworked yourself again." He grumbled as she laid on the ground, passed out. He sat up, as Velvet offered him a hand.

"I'm sorry, if she didn't help me she probably would've been fine." She said. Nick took her hand and stood up.

"It's fine, she does stuff like this and pushes herself too hard a lot." Nick explained.

"Oh." She said, Nick shrugged.

"Ugh" Indigo muttered, slowly turning herself over. "That sucked." Nick smiled softly. Happy to have gotten out of that without much harm done to anyone. Everyone began making their way up the cliff in their own fashion. Though it wasn't long before everybody was there.

Just as Yatsuhashi made his way up, carrying Coco with him, the familiar screech of a Grimm sounded through the air. The nevermore from the temple had found them, Nick walked to the edge of the cliff. The Grimm was flying up the side of the cliff. He smirked, his aura mostly recovered from the trip up.

"I got this one." He said, drawing his swords.

"Nick, don't do what I think you're about to do." Indigo said. He ignored her and jumped off the cliff. He turned himself around in the air. Just as he was about to hit it, he willed a small blast from his foot, undershooting a little this time but just enough to move him out past it a little as it narrowly missed snapping at him.

He stabbed his swords into its back. The blades cutting downward into it as it cried out. The Grimm flew past the cliff edge as he kept cutting down it. He focused his semblance into his swords. He twisted them inside the nevermore, and a concentrated blast of flames erupted out the other side of it. He pushed his feet against the back of it and pulled his swords out. He felt himself falling, though his eyes were fixed on the dissolving Grimm. Once he was satisfied. He quickly sheathed his swords and pointed his hand out away from the cliff. He overshot the blast meant to push him back onto the cliff, by a lot. The blast sent him flying back uncontrolled and plummeting into the dirt.

His brain took a moment to register the fail. He pulled himself up and began walking back towards the group. He was tired, and his aura was gone from the force of the explosion. He had overworked himself.

* * *

Later, in an office surrounded by gears. The headmaster of the school was sitting at his desk, watching back the events of the initiation."Impressive, aren't they?" He asked calmly to the woman next to him.

"Well they certainly have a lot of raw power, but I don't think they seem to work too well together." Glynda commented, as the screen showed the playback of Nick scaling the cliff, the fiery blasts the same size as him propelling him upwards.  
"True, though they seem to be figuring it out." Ozpin responded. "This one is an interesting one." He said, showing Nicks fight with the Ursa's to Glynda. "He could be a candidate. He definitely fits the criteria at first glance."  
"I doubt it, he doesn't have enough control." "Not yet he doesn't." "Yes well, what about the girl he came with?" Glynda asked.

The clip of her scaling the cliff by punching holes into it, while carrying Velvet on her back played on the screen.  
"She definitely is impressive, though we'll have to watch all of them closely." Ozpin responded.  
"I hope you know what you're doing." "I do, though there's not much we can do at the moment."

The two continued watching the initiation playbacks in silence. The only sounds being the video and the gears turning solemnly in the office.


	9. Chapter IX

Nick finally felt himself coming too. He was lying on a stiff bed and greeted by the sight of a white ceiling. He pushed himself up and looked around the room. It appeared to be some sort of doctors office. Its white tile floor and desk almost hurt his eyes to look at, with one of the few things of color in the room was the wooden door. It opened, and the man he recognized as the headmaster walked in.

"Good morning, Mr. Veras" he said, a light smile on his face as his signature spectacles glinted under the light of the room.

"Professor Ozpin." Nick responded. "Where am I?"

"Ah, shortly after you had defeated the nevermore, you passed out from overusing your aura. We brought you to the medical wing to allow your aura to heal itself." Ozpin said.

Nick stood up, he was still slightly sore from the initiation but he didn't show it.

"Well, thanks. So, what's the occasion?" He asked.

"I wanted to congratulate you personally. I found myself impressed by you while reviewing the footage, as well as recovering in time for the ceremony." Ozpin explained.

"Wait, ceremony?"

"I thought I would explain it to you since you were unconscious after the initiation had ended and missed the announcement. You see, we will be paring the partners formed during the initiation together to form four person teams. They are to be assigned a leader and a dormitory room. The ceremony was initially going to take place directly after, however, there were more injured then usual this year due to an increased amount of Grimm. It was quite unfortunate, and I thought it best to delay it until later this evening after everyone has recovered."

Nick sat at this and thought to himself. He cleared hist throat for a minute.

"So, are you going to tell me who I'm getting paired up with?" He asked hopefully. Ozpin smiled and shook his head.

"I am afraid you'll have to wait until the ceremony to find out, Mr. Veras. It will be in the auditorium again, so I'm sure you know your way." He said. His spectacles glinted in the room light again as he turned to leave.

After the headmaster left, he got to his feet and made his way out of the medical room and pulled put his scroll. He pulled it open and checked the school map. Once he was satisfied that he knew where he was going, he pushed it closed and pocketed it. He sighed and made his way to the auditorium.

People were streaming into the auditorium doors. As he walked with the crowd, he spotted his partner. As everyone found a spot to stand inside the room, he moved towards her.

"Hey" He said, walking up behind her.

"So you woke up, nice timing." Amber responded.

"Could've been worse."

"Yeah, but it wasn't. Especially the way you dealt with that Grimm, everyone was worried."

"Wait, even Navy?" Nick asked, smirking slightly.

"No, not him." Amber responded with a sigh. Nick shrugged, unsurprised. The indistinctive chatter died down the moment Ozpin walked onto the stage. The whole room was quiet and tense, until the headmaster cleared his throat, and began his speech.

"Good evening everyone. I would like to congratulate you all on surviving the initiation mission, as well as this. Each set of partners came back with a relic, which is a rare occurrence. You all show much promise, and potential. Potential I have not seen from a new year in quite some time. Yet all of you require improvement if you wish to one day call yourselves huntsmen and huntresses. I've always believed that a major part of this improvement we endow on students is not just in combat or academic skill. Rather in teamwork skills, and in our betterment as people as a whole." Ozpin paused, letting the crowd of students mummer amongst themselves for a moment.

"This is why, based on the results of your initiation, we pair students into four person teams. Once two sets of partners are assigned, your team will also be assigned a leader and a room in our dormitory. Your leader will not only command you in battle, but will also be responsible for his or her team. That includes assisting class schedules for your team, representing your team, and much more along with their standard duties as a student here. It is an important responsibility to have for those who receive it, I warn you not to take it lightly."

More nervous and excited muttering among the crowd interrupted him. Ozpin smiled lightly, as two hologram screens appeared above him. THe crowd silenced again.  
"Now, with that out of the way. I would like to start off with forming the new teams with what I feel has the most promise. When you hear your names, and your picture appears on the screen. Please come up with your partner onto the stage with me."

Nick looked over to Amber, who seemed to be biting her lip nervously. He didn't blame her. It was only a matter of time before they were called onto the stage to be assigned.

"Let us begin. Coco Adel, Fox Alstair, Velvet Scarlatina and Yatsuhashi Daichi." Ozpin said, his spectacles glinted slightly as he spoke now. Their pictures appeared on the hologram screens and the first letter of their names appeared under them. A moment later, the four walked onto the stage. "Partners Coco Adel and Fox Altstair retrieved the red fox statue. While partners Velvet Scarlatina and Yatsuhashi Daichi retrieved the blue fox statue. Together, these four shall form team CFVY, led by Coco Adel."

The crowd applauded, and Ozpin joined them. Upon hearing this, Coco smirked and gave a wave to the crowd while Velvets face seemed to grow a nervous expression. When the applause died, the four walked off the stage. Ozpin coughed slightly.

"Nickel Veras, Amber Auburn, Navy Marine, and Indigo Kani." Nicks head filled with multiple different emotions. He already realized what this meant if the four of them were being called. Amber sighed and pulled on his arm.

"Let's go" she said quietly, Nick almost didn't hear her. He snapped out of it and began walking towards the stage. They worked their way through the crowd swiftly until they found themselves at the staircase on the left of the stage. Navy and Indigo emerged from the crowd at the same time as them. Navy had his signature scowl painted on and Indigo didn't look too happy either. Without saying anything to each other, the four walked onto the stage.

Ozpin greeted them with a smile and a nod as they walked up to him.

"Partners Nickel Veras and Amber Auburn retrieved the black lion statue. While partners Navy Marine and Indigo Kani retrieved the white lion statue. Together, these four shall form team NANI, led by Nickel Veras." Ozpin said.

The wave of emotions returned to Nick. He wondered if there was a mistake, but the gleam in Ozpins eyes denied him of that.

"Hmmph. I will not-," Navy began to say, but Indigo stomped on his foot. He grunted in pain and scowled at her. She just gave him her signature death glare in return. Though it faded as the dread of his new responsibility coated him. Indigo tugged at his arm, he realized the other two were already walking off the stage. He nodded and followed them off.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur to Nick. He couldn't really focus on the other teams, as he was now lost in thought.

"You okay?" Amber asked him, they had returned to their original spot in the auditorium. Navy and Indigo had joined them in the spot as they were part of the team now.

"Yeah... Why do you ask?"

"Because you were spaced out, more then I've usually seen you."

"I'm okay. Just thinking." Nick sighed,

"If you can not do the job of leader on the first day. You have no business leading me." Navy commented.

"You want me to break that foot?" Indigo grunted.

"I would like to see you try," Navy responded gruffly. Nick glared at the two.

"Save it for another time or place, I can do whatever I need to and I don't need you to question me, or defend me." He said.

"That remains to be seen." Navy grumbled. The crowd applauded again as another team walked off the stage. The hologram screens closed, and Ozpin took the center of the stage again.

"That will be all the new teams forming this year. As I said earlier, you all have potential that I see within you. I urge you all to find it and make it your own. To grow and find your propose, and to trust your new teams. There will be both times of happiness and sorrow for you all, and you should not be afraid to lean on your team in those times. For that is why they are there. I would appreciate it if team leaders meet with me backstage, immediately. For there are more matters that we must attend to. As for everyone else, please enjoy your evenings and take this time to celebrate your accomplishments up until this point. Thank you."

Ozpin turned and walked offstage, walking through a door and closing it after. Indistinct talking erupted the moment the headmaster left. Nick sighed.

"Well, I'll be back then. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone." Nick said dryly.

"We can't promise anything." Indigo responded. With that, Nick began to move away from them towards the backstage door. As he reached for the handle, another hand grabbed it first.

"Funny how we keep running into each other." Coco said as she opened the door.

"Yeah, wonder what Ozpin wants from us." Nick responded.

"Probably nothing too crazy. I mean he dd just shove a big responsibility on us." Coco walked through the door and Nick followed her in.

"True, speaking of which, can we trade teams?" Nick said in a dry tone. Coco chuckled.

"Not a chance."

Nick almost bumped into one of the new leaders as he followed Coco. It was basically a large dressing room. Nothing stood out of the ordinary. Ozpin stood at the center of the room. He smiled when the door closed behind us. Next to him was a table stacked with notebooks.

"Thank you team leaders. I won't take up much of your time. All of you have been burdened with a heavy responsibility... A responsibility you are expected to uphold to your best ability. However, you choose to go about this is entirely up to you. That said, I have on this table your scheduling for you and your team. You are responsible for ensuring that your teammates are informed of their schedules and carry them out. If they are unable to attend a class or session, please be sure that they inform you. In which you will inform us by contacting myself or one of the other professors with your scrolls. Again, however you choose to go about handling this is up to you. Though I ask you all to do your responsibilities as a huntsman in training, and as team leaders. There will be a meeting in a classroom for team leaders every other week to keep everyone informed. The time and classroom should be in the book with your teams name on it. That is all."

Ozpin took in a breath. The team leaders with some hesitation began going through the books on the table next to him, finding the one with their teams name on it and leaving. Nick pushed his way through to the table and began his search. He searched through a few minutes, multiple books passing through his hands before he eventually found what he was looking for. A thin notebook, a black cover with the word 'NANI' on it in white letters. He smiled nervously to himself. He backed away from the table and flipped through it. As promised, he found inside the schedules for classes and times for each member. The team shared most classes together with one or two exceptions. The book also contained the number for their dorm room, as well as the entry code for scrolls.

Satisfied, Nick headed for the exit. Before he could cross through the door, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. The headmaster stood by the door, a calming smile on his face.

"Apologies if overwhelmed you." He said.

"It's only just single handedly carrying the responsibility for three other people by myself. No pressure at all." Nick responded.

"Now now, if I may offer a little advice. You don't necessarily need to see it that way. Another way of looking at is, that you're merely helping to guide them to be the best they can be along with yourself."

"I'm not sure I follow," the headmasters pushed his spectacles up his nose a little.

"You'll understand soon enough. Though do please stop by some day in my office to chat. I think I would like to know more about you."

Nick nodded and walked out of the dressing room. Most people were already leaving the auditorium. Nick opened his scroll and entered the activation key for his room into it. Now he should be able to open the room if he has it.

"What took you so long?" He heard Indigo ask him from behind. He turned to see her. Her face looked tired.

"I wasn't gone that long. Wait, where are the other two?"

"Oh, they're over there." She pointed a thump over her shoulder towards a wall, where Navy leaned on it and Amber stood a few feet away from him, her eyes closed. "What's with the book?"

"I'll explain later. Anyway, let's go find our dorm room."

"Do you even know where the dorms are?" Nick sighed and opened his scroll again. He opened Beacon's map and found it quickly.

"Yeah, it's nearby. Don't worry about it."

"I'm just checking, plus you're not really looking too good." It was true, Nick felt really nervous about his new position. He took a breath.

"I'm okay, just do me a favor and try to keep your partner in check a little until I can get around to dealing with him."

"You're the boss, though that guy honestly goes from calm to crazy in a minute." she sighed,

"Just do your best." he grumbled. He didn't bring up that 'being the boss' was exactly the problem. He shook his head and made his way over. As he approached, Navy quietly grunted.

"For the record, I think your position is a mistake. Only a real warrior should be in charge." Navy grumbled. Nicks eye twitched slightly.

"Deal with it." He responded, lightly irritated. "We can have that discussion another time, if you feel like being the teams secretary. Be my guest. It saves me a lot of extra paperwork and talking to teachers. If that doesn't suit you, just shut up and we'll talk about it later. For now, just work with me a little."

"Then earn my respect. Let me make this clear, you are no leader, until you prove otherwise." Navy responded. Indigo lowly growled and began to step towards her partner, but Nick put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, confused.

"It's fine." He said, She sighed. "That aside. Would you rather we stand here and listen to you complain about how you don't like this or can we go find our dorm room?" Navy said nothing.

"Thank you." Amber muttered. Nick sighed and began walking out of the auditorium, his teammates behind him. They said nothing to each other as they walked through campus, which Nick was thankful for he wasn't sure he could handle it much more if Navy kept pushing his patience.

Their dorm hallway had boring grey walls and a red-carpet floor. The white doors blended with the walls, the only difference was a small brown number on each one. He stopped, spotting the number of their room.

"This should be it." Nick said. Navy pushed him aside and tried to twist the doorknob. Nick smirked when it didn't open. He pulled his scroll open and entered the password. The sound of a lock undoing itself clicked. Navy tried it again, and it swung open.

"You did not tell us there was a lock." Navy grumbled.

"I'll write down the password for everyone to put into their scrolls." Nick responded, pushing past the blue axe user.

The room's lights were already on, revealing the yellow walls and wooden floor. The floor had a circular red and white rug at the center of it, which matched the four red and white beds that lined themselves to the end of the room. There was a desk for each member of the team and a large bookshelf between the pair of beds. The window curtain was pushed aside, which allowed the shattered moon of Remnant to shine in.

"Welcome, to the dorm of team NANI," Nick muttered dramatically, pushing his way into the dorm room. Their backpacks of belongings sat on each desk, Nick sighed and pulled out a chair on the desk with his bag on it.

"So, who's sleeping where?" Amber spoke up as the team trailed into the room.

"Both partner sets will take up each half. Figure it out from there." Nick responded nonchalantly, as he dug through his bag. Indigo wasted no time, she walked over to the farthest bed on the right and practically jumped into it. Navy disappeared to the bathroom, which left only Amber.

Nick pulled out some paper from his bag, and began to flip through the schedule book while writing stuff down.

"Um, Nickel." Amber said.

"It's just Nick please." He didn't look up from writing.

"Sorry, what are you doing?" He sighed. He took one piece of paper and got back up.

"Just getting some things worked out before morning." He pressed the paper to the wall which it stuck too. On it was just labeled 'scroll dorm entry code' followed by the code.

"Put that in your scrolls so I can take it down later." Nick said as he walked back to his desk. She nodded and pulled a scroll out of her pocket and began typing on it. He spaced out as he worked, writing schedule notes down and the location of each class. When he finished, he realized everyone had fallen asleep. He sighed and closed the schedule book. He could figure out in the morning. He walked over to the last empty bed on the far left of the room and climbed into it. He didn't get much sleep that night, not just because of the nightmares, but now also because he was still anxious about running this new team.


	10. Chapter X

Amber dreamed of fire. She hadn't dreamed of the accident in a long time, but whenever she did, it scared her. The ash in the air, the smell of the flames, the pain in her side. The dream cut short before it could go farther in. She awoke to the sound of a loud bang, as if someone set off a grenade. She groaned to herself and opened her eyes. The light blinded her for a second before her eyes adjusted. She sat up and took in the room, looking for the source of the loud noise.

Nick stood near the door, he held his forearm out and his fist clenched. Smoke drifted lazily from it. He looked tired, the area around his eyes were darker and baggy. He had changed out of his leather jacket and jeans into a black suit with golden buttons and a red tie.

Indigo rolled herself out of bed and landed on the floor with a thump. Navy growled and sat up.

"Everyone up." Nick said and then yawned, his voice sounded tired. Amber pulled herself out of bed.

"Was the explosion necessary?" Indigo grumbled as she got up, her sheets were still wrapped around her in a tangled mess.

"It got all of you up didn't it?" Nick responded. "School uniforms should be on everyones desks in a bag. Wear them please unless you want to get yelled at along with me by all the teachers." His voice only came across as half joking, so she couldn't tell if he was or not.

Amber climbed out of bed and neatly made it, before stretching lightly, Indigo just grunted and walked over to her desk, grabbing a red bag off it and marching into the bathroom without even bothering to untangle the blankets around her. Nick smirked lightly at the scene.

"Do not wake me in such fashion again." Navy remarked as he finished making his own bed.

"Opening the curtain didn't work and everyone needs to be at class. Which is another one of the things I have to deal with." Nick sighed. "Besides, after today we get the weekend off and it's just free study time for then. So sleep all you want then, I don't really care."

"Um, Nick did you get any sleep last night? You look tired." Amber spoke up, slightly unease by his more direct tone then usual.

"I clocked out late, I was looking over some extra things." He responded.

Navy grabbed his bag off his desk and grabbed the knob of the bathroom. He grumbled something angrily when it didn't turn.

"Hey Nick, what time do classes start?" Amber asked.

"9 o'clock." She glanced at the clock above the door, it read seven thirty.

"Then why'd you wake us up an hour and a half early?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I figured it'll be easier to start getting things unpacked before classes along with a few other things that need doing for the first day." He responded.

"What other things?" Navy asked, he leaned on the wall next to the bathroom door.

"Like making sure everyone has their schedules. The code to the for the dorm room on your scrolls. Seeing how long it takes everyone to get ready for class so I can make sure everyone gets up on time. Just to name a few." He responded. "Still want to be the leader?" He added drily. Navy grunted but didn't respond to his comment.

Indigo finally walked out of the bathroom, wearing her uniform. It mainly consisted of a red tartan skirt, paired with a white blouse and black blazer like Nicks. She pushed the little red bow around slightly; she looked uncomfortable.

"Do we really have to wear these things during class?" She mumbled.

"Only if you want to be there and not get us in trouble," Nick responded jokingly.

After Navy and Amber had changed into their uniforms, Nick handed out what he said, a schedule, the code for the dorm lock and locations. Afterwards, he sat down at his desk and began doing something on his scroll. The rest of us began unpacking, though nobody seemed to get far before eventually Nick pocketed his scroll.

"Alright, time to go." He said. Amber put down her bag on her bed. She was only halfway done, but could finish later. The others followed suit behind Nick as they began to walk out the dorm. She had to resist a slight smirk as Navy almost hit his head on the way out. The team didn't make it down the hallway very far before the door next to theirs opened.

"Then she said-, oh hey!" Coco said, "You guy's are in the same hall? Nice." Nick shrugged.

"Guess we're neighbors." He said. The rest of team CFVY walked out, Yatsuhashi looked about as comfortable as Indigo and Navy, as he kept adjusting his tie.

"You betcha we are! Also I love these uniforms; they just look so nice." Coco responded. As the two leaders talked, the team walked through the hallways out of the dorm.

Classes flew by, except for their first class with Professor Port which mainly consisted of him telling a most likely trumped-up war story. Nick looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment while Amber tried to take good notes of what she could.

Finally, the main classes ended, and it was time for gym. The school gym, being near the lockers was nicely convenient. Unlike most, she didn't have a designated huntsman uniform. Today she decided on a pair of jeans and orange tank top. She was last into the gym. Indigo was lifting weights and a small group of muscle heads were watching in slight awe by the amount she was lifting. She couldn't see Navy, and Nick was sitting on a bench, back in his jacket. He was sipping from an energy drink lazily and going through his scroll. She sighed and walked up to him.

"Not much of a workout person?" She asked as she approached him, he closed his scroll and pocketed it.

"Not in the mood." He responded.

"You haven't seemed to be in the mood for much today." She sat down next to him. "Actually you've just been completely out of it today."

"Oh, yeah sorry. I've just been thinking."

"About what? Whatever you keep looking at on your scroll?" He smiled lightly.

"Kind of, just figuring some minor stuff out." She sighed, whatever was on his mind, he didn't want to talk about it. She could understand that.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope you figure it out before Navy starts walking all over you." He chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just tired, had a long night getting everything together." She nodded and stood.

"Well, get some rest then tonight. Like you said, we don't have classes tomorrow so I doubt there should be much on your plate." He just nodded in response.

Days passed since their conversation, and eventually two weeks had passed. Nick grew more distant, they only really saw him anymore during classes. He kept going out during the weekends all day and coming back not wanting to talk. Everyone was growing tired of their absent leader, who was only there when he was required too.

Amber walked into the gym, she wore the same thing as last time, she was starting to get used to wearing it. To her surprise, Navy and Indigo were talking on the bench and didn't look like they were about to start a brawl, again. She walked up to them, Indigo looked up and nodded in greeting.

"What's going on?" Amber asked immediately. Indigo pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the other end of the gym. Nick leaned against the wall, his eyes closed, he looked even more tired then usual. "Oh," Indigo nodded.

"This isn't like him, at all. Plus he's been at it for weeks now. There's something wrong." She said. Navy grunted.

"I grow tired of this," he said and stood from the bench.

"Wait, Navy I told you to let me handle it." Indigo protested as he began walking towards him. He ignored her. She quickly stood up and began to follow him. Amber felt uneasy about this, but decided to see if she could help in some way. They were right, there was something wrong with him and he wasn't speaking to them. She put a hand on Indigos shoulder before she could chase after him.

"Let's just see where this goes. It's not like just talking to him normally will help." She said. Indigo sighed.

"Fine."

The two trailed behind Navy a little. He didn't say a word as he approached. Nick opened his eyes and glanced at Navy.

"What?" He asked. Navy didn't respond. He grabbed Nick, and them him on the ground behind him.

"You have failed." Navy grunted.

"Navy stop! What the hell is-," Indigo began to say as she ran towards them. Nick cut her off as he stood up, his expression unphased. He held out his arm and stopped her from going farther.

"It's okay." Nick said with an unusual calmness, "If Navy has something to say, let him. It's all he ever does anyway." Navy huffed in response.

"You have failed your team. As a leader and a member of it." Navy growled.

"Really? In what way?" Amber felt the temperature of the air in the room raise. She realized it wasn't just her. Indigo had took a few steps back from Nick, sweat had began to form on her forehead.

"You are constantly absent. You come back every night late. You disappear during the weekends. The only time you are present is during class when you are required. You have done nothing or made any attempt to lead or contribute. It is a disgrace." Navy growled. "You should not have been entrusted with leading a team, if you are not capable of being a part of it. You have done no work for us since day one."

Nick said nothing for a minute; he just stared at Navy. The silence blanketed the air like lead. Amber felt herself instinctively backing away from the two. Indigo had also backed away from the two, her face wouldn't betray any emotion.

"I haven't worked you say... Actually it's quite the opposite." Nick finally spoke, his tone quiet. "I have done nothing but work for both myself and this team. I work and work to the point I barely sleep, and you have the nerve to say that to me... I'm not even surprised, you don't respect anyone who doesn't seem tough like you anyway do you? You just think of us all as inferior to you and that you should be in charge."

"All you have done so far has proven me correct."

"Then why aren't you? I don't see you doing anything more then standing here and complaining."

What happened next was almost a blur to Amber. Navy tried to punch him. Nick had dodged it easily and shoved his palm out, then an explosion rippled out from his hands, it singed his clothes and slammed him against the wall. The concrete wall cracked from the force of it. Before Navy could react, Nick had grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the middle of the gym. Navy stood up and wiped some blood from his mouth, and smirked. The smell of smoke filled Ambers nose. She felt her heart almost skip a beat. The few other students inside the gym had stopped their workouts to watch.

Navy reached over to one of the benches and grabbed a water bottle from it. He unscrewed the lid and turned it over, dumping it out. Instead of falling to the floor, the water floated and circled around him in a ring. He tossed the empty water bottle aside. Other water bottles began to shake in the gym until they exploded, the water and other drinks shot from the ruptured bottles and floated towards Navy, until liquid circled around him in multiple rings.

"Let's put your fire out." Navy growled through his smirk, and thrust his hands forward from his fighting position. The liquids seemed to freeze as it sailed towards Nick in a ball of ice the size of his chest. His expression didn't change. He waved his hand in front of him, and a fiery explosion ripped the air in front of him. Ice shards flew everywhere and smoke covered him. Amber felt sheer terror suddenly rise though her chest. She couldn't move away, as much as she wanted too turn and run.

The smoke began to clear. Nick stood at the center of it, flames licked and danced across his entire body. His eyes glowed pure orange, and his hair stood slightly as flames curled through it. He scowled. Amber felt herself being shoved away. She realized Indigo was practically dragging her to the edge of the room away from them.

The air itself felt like it was starting to burn. A shockwave shot out from Nick, the gyms matted floors burned under his feet. Amber barely registered that he even moved, one moment he was standing there like an inferno, the next, he was in front of Navy. He slammed his fist into Navy's gut. Another small shockwave shimmered the smokey air as he went flying back into and behind a bench press. The press bent and crumbled from the impact and tumbled back a few feet behind where Navy landed. He was on his hands and knees, blood trickled from his mouth and he clenched his stomach with one hand. He was breathing heavily.

Nick was suddenly standing over him. A small trail flames on the floor burned in his wake. He glared down at Navy. Navy threw another punch though it was much slower. Nick grabbed his fist; Navy groaned in pain as he tried to pull his hand out of Nicks flaming grasp. Nick let go, burn marks covered Navy's fist.

"Nick stop, that's enough!" Indigo yelled next to her, Amber could only watch in horror as the incident unfolded.

She heard a scream, only to realize it had come from herself. Fear had overwhelmed her. The memories of that night were flooding through her head again. She felt her semblance activating. The world became cloudy and blurred around her as she felt herself flying out of the gym. As she found herself on the main campus again. She forced herself to calm down. The world cleared as she felt her body returning to her. She panted as she supported herself on her legs.

The memories of that night stopped, she was okay. The memory of the burning pain in her side, and her aching muscles faded. Students on campus gave her strange looks. She didn't care, she composed herself and began to walk back to the dorms. That was enough for now.

* * *

Indigo regretted letting Navy say or do anything. She knew it would only make things worse, but she didn't imagine Nick would lose his temper this bad. It hasn't happened like this in years. He just always kept it boiling below the surface. After Amber left in a panic, Nick said something quietly that she couldn't hear. The flames on his body died as he fell to his knees. The doors to the gym opened again. This time, the headmaster walked in. Professor Goodwitch behind him.

Goodwitch waved the wand through the air. The damage to the room seemed to undo itself. In no time, the gym was back to how it originally was. The headmaster cleared his throat.

"If everyone would please return to their dorms for now, I would like to have a talk with Mr. Veras and Mr. Marine in private." He said.

Indigo took the hint. She made her way out of the gym. When she got back to the dorm, Amber laid on her bed, and quietly stared up at the ceiling. She was clearly shaken up by something. Indigo thought for a moment before deciding against trying to talk to the quiet girl. Instead, she headed for the shower.

As she finished getting dressed, she winced at the idea of putting her tail away from view again. It was sore and stiff from being coiled up around her waist for two weeks straight. The only break being when she slept and when she changed in private. She sighed and forced herself to wrap it around her waist again. She couldn't keep doing this for four years, and she knew it. She just hoped the team wouldn't hate her for it.

She stepped out of the bathroom. Nothing had changed. She put her armor away. Shortly after, the door opened. Nick and Navy trailed in. They wouldn't look at each other, Navy's hand was wrapped in a bandage and his workout clothes had a hole burned through them. There was a slight burn mark on his chest but it was already healing. Nick's hands were wrapped as well, though he picked lightly at them.

She walked towards them but said nothing. She let her angered expression do the talking. She slapped both of them. She had to reach up to Navy and made sure to hit him a little harder.

"What the hell is wrong with both of you?!" She exclaimed. Amber had sat up from her bed, and looked nervously at Nick.

Navy glared at her.

"I did what I felt necessary." Navy commented before he walked past her. He leaned against the wall near his bed and shot a glance at Nick.

"Nick," he sighed,

"I know I know," he closed the door behind him. "Listen up because I'm only going to say this once." He paused for a minute. "I'm sorry, I haven't been paying attention to my team as much as I should be." Indigo scoffed.

"You're in charge. That means more then doing paperwork, Nick. It means you have to know your team." She said. He nodded.

"I know, so I'll be doing that from now on. Weather you guys like it or not," he glanced at Navy briefly. "We're all stuck together. So the least we should do is try and get to know each other."

Amber coughed nervously.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"You said earlier that you've been working to the point you've been losing sleep. What kind of work are you even doing?" She asked. Nick shrugged and leaned against the wall by the door.

"Lien doesn't just grow on trees you know."

"Wait, what? Nick, you got a job?" Indigo interjected. He shrugged.

"Well yeah. We spent most of the money we were given just getting here alone. I have to be able to pay for my... project somehow. Besides, it pays pretty well for a part time job."

Indigo facepalmed slightly. He was right, though. Sooner or later they were going to run out of lien between the two of them.

"And you didn't tell me this why?" She asked, annoyed.

"Didn't think it was that important." He responded.

"What do you do then?" Amber interjected.

"Night shift for a dust store."

Indigo understood why that would pay well. Night was a sketchy time to be open for business in any of the kingdoms. Especially working at a place that sells something as valuable as dust.

"Alright, fine, but what about this project you said you're working on?" She asked. He merely smirked.

"You'll see when it's done." Was all he said. She rolled her eyes. She walked away from him and headed towards her desk. She looked over to Navy.

"You're being strangely quiet. What did Ozpin even tell you guy's anyway?"

Navy began unraveling the bandage on his hand. The burns on it were healed.

"He just said that the sparring room was open and was a better place for that."

Indigo shrugged. At least he wasn't picking everyone for a fight for now.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** _So this was a weird chapter for me to write using the different points of view like this. Though now that Team NANI has been assembled, it's going to be more like this as I want to be able to cover more of what's going on better. Sorry if it was confusing at first, I thought I would just explain that._


	11. Chapter XI

The morning sounds of Beacon's cafeteria was enough to put anyone not prepared into a state of panic. Though for Amber, it was becoming more and more just another day for her. The sounds of loud, indistinct conversations rang throughout the large cafeteria. It all combined to form a loud gibberish sound that annoyed her.

They sat with team CFVY today. Though mainly because Nick and Coco were comparing notes on last nights leaders meeting he disappeared too for awhile.

"Ugh I never thought it was going to end! Seriously I could've gone to my favorite store in Vale for an hour and come back, and they would still have been going!" Coco complained. Nick nodded in agreement.

"Well in Ozpin's defense, the first couple of weeks are really just for teams to get to know each other before the real work starts. I heard one leader was even granted his request to step down."

"Wait, really?" Indigo butted in.

"Yeah, the first week we were told a good amount of team leaders asked to step down right off the bat once they saw the workload. Only one guy was really granted that though." Nick explained.

"Umm, Nick." Velvet spoke up.

"Huh?" He asked quickly and looked over to her.

"I was meaning to ask... Why do you and Indigo have... Weird last names?" They both looked confused. "U-um. I just mean that they don't relate to any color o-or anything." She stuttered.

"It's probably because we're from settlements instead of main kingdoms." Nick explained. "People out there are either much less traditional on things like that, and way overboard in other ones depending on where they came from originally."

"Oh..." she leaned over and whispered something into Coco's ear. Coco just smirked evilly.

"Yes I agree that they are kind of cute in their own way!" Coco announced to the table.

Velvets, Nicks, and Indigos faces all simultaneously turned red. Amber smiled as she took another bite of her food.

"Coco!" Velvet complained. Coco laughed.

"I'm just messing with you, oh right I almost forgot!" She stood up. "Since we don't have anything to do today, and Monday is when things begin to get crazy around here. I wanted to invite team NANI along with us on a trip down to Vale." Coco said in her usual dramatic state.

Nick shrugged and looked around the members of their team.

"Up to the them."

"Well, I do need to stock up more dust." Amber said. Indigo shrugged.

"I could use some more ammo." She said. Navy grumbled.

"This is a waste of time, I shall not attend."

"Well, if that's the case. Then we're game." Nick said, Coco smiled.

"This is gunna be fun,"

* * *

It was a short ride on the airship after breakfast down to Vale. Coco led the group down the concrete streets. Nick had gotten used to walking through the concrete jungle of the kingdom. He glanced over to Indigo who was looking around at everything like the first time they came to Vale. He smiled to himself, and found her unfamiliarity with the city amusing. It's already been three weeks since they got here and she never left the school grounds. He figured she needed the breath of air from there anyway.

"Oh you guys are going to love it here! Trust me this place is my favorite store." Coco said as she led everyone into a plaza. Buildings fenced the plaza in, a road at the end of it. The Vale crest stamped into the concrete at the plazas center. Though other then two trees growing next to the crest, nothing really stood out.

"Umm, where were we going again?" Nick spoke up. Coco glanced back at him.

"Silly, we're going to my favorite clothing store!" Coco responded cheerily. Nick groaned internally, instantly getting why Yatsuhashi also stayed at Beacon. Indigo was more vocal with her groan though. Fox just sighed.

"Yeah I think i'll pass..." Indigo began. Coco walked back to Indigo, grabbed her arm and began dragging her towards a building.

"I have only ever seen you wear that armored jumpsuit of yours and your workout clothes. I'm taking you shopping and you're gunna like it!" Coco practically declared and began dragging her towards one of the buildings. Nick had to try not to laugh, and almost failed. Amber sighed.

"Well, I have been meaning to get a new outfit or two." She muttered. Nick shrugged and figured how bad could it be?

It was practically agony. Indigo fought Coco tooth and nail over everything she picked out, refused any help, and hid in the dressing room for unusual amounts of time. Nick sighed internally to himself, fully aware why she was kept taking so long. Coco seemed to keep getting more and more annoyed.

"Ugh, she's taking forever, and she's being so stubborn! I'm telling her that skirt will look great when she's relaxing but she won't wear it!" Coco complained by the dressing room area's entrance while Nick leaned against the wall in front of it. Velvet was on the other side, quietly listening to Coco. Nick sighed softly to himself, knowing the real reason for it.

Coco turned to look at Nick.

"Hey, Nick can't you go in there and calm her down at all?" Coco asked. Nick chuckled.

"Why do ya think she'd listen to me let alone not kick my face in?"

"Well you are her boyfriend aren't you? Pretty sure she'd listen to ya." Coco responded with an eye roll. Nick practically chocked on himself.

"What no! We're just friends." Nick said quickly. Coco laughed.

"Bullshit. I mean, it's obvious you two have known each other for a long time so unless you two are related or something, I'll put solid money on that." Nick rolled his eyes.

"Well, at one point in time maybe, but it never worked out. She's more of a sister to me at this point." Nick grumbled. Wait, why did he feel himself starting to lose control? He glanced over more at Coco, who was staring intently at him. Her silver eyes glared unusually at him, the gleam in them danced with confidence and expectance. "It's a long story, but no. She's just a old friend of mine, nothing more."

The gleam in her eyes died. Replaced with frustration and surprise. She groaned and shook her head.

"Fineee! I'll do it myself then!" Coco grumbled. She marched into the changing room. Velvet suddenly broke out quietly laughing, Nick smiled lightly at her.

"What's so funny?" She stopped instantly,

"Oh, nothing." she said and shook her head. Nick spotted Amber walking towards them, carrying a bag. He gave an exaggerated wave.

"Still alive partner?" He asked as she approached.

"I got what I wanted, i'm done here." She said, ignoring him.

"Umm, I could use some more dust for the week, and it is getting boring." Velvet said. Nick checked his scroll. To his surprise, three hours had passed since they first walked in.

"I need some more too." Amber sighed.

"Lucky for us all, I know a place. C'mon." Nick said. He pushed himself off the wall and began to walk towards the exit.

"Wait, what about the others?" Velvet asked worriedly. Nick shrugged.

"They're big girls who can take care of themselves. They'll catch up once they're done." He pushed open the door to the exit. As he walked out, he spotted Fox leaning against the wall by the door, his eyes closed.

"Hey Fox," Nick said.

"Hey, you done in there?"

"Kinda, Coco and Indigo will catch up later. We're just heading to a dust store."

"Alright, I'll catch up." He said simply.

It was a short walk to the store Nick was taking everyone. He stopped at a decent sized store, it's sign simply printed 'From Dust Till Dawn.'

"This is it?" Amber asked.

"It's not the ice cream shop if that's what your asking." Nick replied sarcastically and stepped inside.

Inside, it seemed nice enough. Different types of dust and crystals lined the wall, creating a colorful sight. At the center was a checkout area, with more cases for crystals. A elderly man stood behind the counter, he smiled at them at they entered.

"Hey boss," Nick said casually to the man. He just nodded in greeting.

"So, this is where you work?" Amber asked. Nick nodded,

"Mostly the evening shifts but yeah."

Nick watched the two girls walk up to the cyan dust containers. He grabbed himself some boxes of the ammo Indigo uses. He figured he would save her the trip of coming over here. Once that was done, he went over to the crystal counter and picked himself out a few different crystals to go along with the red ones he needed. He figured trying them out couldn't hurt.

"I didn't know you were a dust user..." he heard Velvet behind him. He turned, she held a standard dust container filled with cyan dust.

"Oh, not really. Though I figured that it couldn't hurt to try a few different kinds out with my semblance and see what happens. What about you? That seems like a good amount of the stuff."

"Oh yeah, I need a lot to power my weapon to make it work. So I try not to use too much."

"And that would be?" She looked down at the ground for a minute before smiling at him.

"You'll have to wait and see." He chuckled.

"Fair enough."

Amber walked up to the counter, carrying another containegbr with the same dust kind.

"It's going to take forever to load this." She muttered.

They paid for the dust, though as they turned for the door. It opened. To Nick's slight surprise, Navy walked through it.

"Oh hey Navy, thought you were hiding back at Beacon," Nick said

"I was not hiding, I was training and realized I needed something." Navy grumbled.

"Whatever you say, big guy." Nick said. Navy picked himself out a handful of blue crystals which he pocketed after he paid for them. "What ya need those for?" He asked. Navy grunted.

"Enhances my semblance." With his purchase done, Navy turned and left without another word. Nick sighed.

"Still an amazing conversationalist I see." He muttered.

"At least nothing blew up this time." Amber said.

"Wait, what?" Velvet asked.

"Last time those two ended up blowing up the whole gym," Amber explained.

"Well, not the whole gym."

"Most of it." She grumbled.

"Anyways, we should catch up on Indigo and Coco before they end up on some new adventure without us." Nick partly joked.

"Do you think she'll let me take a few shots of what they got?" Velvet asked. Nick shrugged.

"Probably not, but you can try."

Nick waved to the shopkeeper as they left the shop.

"So, how much trouble you think those two got into while we were gone?" Nick asked jokingly.

"They probably blew up the changing area and got kicked out." Velvet said.

Suddenly, the sound of an alarm filled the air. The few people on the streets began to run away from the source of it, one of the buildings in front of them. People in suits began pouring out of it, some holding large sacs, and all carrying res swords.

"Oh, great." Nick muttered. A man in a white suit strolled out of the building. He adjusted his bowler hat that covered his orange hair and placed a cigar in his mouth. He pulled out a lighter and lit it before pocketing it again.

"We should do something." Amber said.

"Agreed." Velvet replied,

"Already on it." Nick commented. He took a step forward and reached for one of his swords. "I've been meaning to try this for awhile."

He drew one sword and let his arm drop, the tip of the blade touching the ground behind him. He walked forwards towards the group of robbers, hoping to get a little distance between him and his friends. He willed his semblance on and forced it through the sword. The blade glowed behind him.

A controlled shockwave blast shot out from the sword and he felt himself being propelled along the road. He moved his feet into a run to prevent himself from falling.

When he was confident he had covered enough distance, he stopped running. He forced himself to stop, and used the momentum to swing his sword off from the ground and to his side. A line of flame continued onwards from where the sword was on the road. He willed the line of flames to curve around the group of robbers, until it stopped just short of the building.

Nick smirked and drew his second blade.

"So, where do you think you guys are going?" He asked. The man in the white suit walked up to the front of the group.

"Ah we were just heading on our way. If you would be so kind as to move, you might just make it out of this." He said.

"Afraid I can't do that." The man sighed and looked around too his men.

"Well, Deal with him."

One of the goons charged Nick and raised his sword to swing. Nick parried the blade, the force breaking the goons sword. Nick used the momentum to twist his body and roundhouse kick his groin. The good fell to the ground with a groan. Two more began to charge him, but a could of ash swept past them and curved behind them. The cloud reformed back into Amber, holding the handle of her weapon sideways.

Instead of a dust projection of a sword, the handle had two straight poles on both ends protruding from it and formed a staff. She twirled it and hit one of them in the head, and spun it so the other end hit the second behind her.

A few flashes of light lit the group up, Nick looked over to see Velvet holding her box camera. She smiled cheekily and returned it to her side. One of the goons charged her and swung his sword at her. She dodged under it easily and in an instant, struck him in the neck. The goon collapsed. Eight left.

Nick took in a breath and pointed his sword at two. The blade began to glow and steam. A concentrated jet of flames shot from the sword, knocking back the two back. Another two swung both of their blades down at Amber. She twirled her staff projection into a horizontal hold and blocked both blades. Velvet jumped around them to the goons side. She kicked one in the leg. The leg made a loud cracking sound and bent at a weird angle on the joint. The goon dropped his blade and fell to the ground and yelled in pain.

With one side free, Amber dodged to the side. She hit the standing goon in the side as she did so. She pressed one of the buttons on her handle, and the dust staff shrunk back into the handle. She clenched her hand into a fist, and a dust projection shield emerged from her gauntlet. She swung it back around, the edge hitting him in the forehead. The goon fell backwards. She spun again and threw it at the man in the white suit. He dodged it easily and he glared angrily at her. Amber and Velvet ran to Nicks side as the four remaining goons readied themselves to attack.

They didn't get a chance too. Indigo came out of nowhere. She launched herself towards the goons, and punching one in the face. The force knocked all four together and sent them all flying back and on the ground. Indigo stood where they once were, and stared at the four mostly unconscious men.

"Definitely your best men Junior, no matter." The final remaining man said, as he checked a pocketwatch. "Well, as impressive a display that was, I'm afraid that I don't have time to stick around and chat." He lightly tipped his hat at everyone.

"Oh no you don't," Indigo grumbled and jumped at him, though as she tackled him. He just shattered like glass and Indigo fell through it. A plane flew overhead, the man waving from the open side of it as he closed it.

The plane flew off, leaving the four students and the henchmen behind.

"Well, that happened." Nick said, sheathing his swords.

"I swear every time we let them run off to do anything, they get themselves wrapped up in something." Coco complained, approaching the scene and lazily stepping over the black line that flames used to be at. She carried a handful of bags and put back on her sunglasses from the last time they saw her. Indigo's eyes looked down into the street for a moment before glancing back up.

"Oh, right." Nick remembered,he dig through the pockets of his jacket pockets and pulled out the boxes of ammo. He tossed then to her, which she grabbed. "Figured I would save you the trip over there, since Coco was busy torturing you."

"Excuse me I was not! I was simply helping her pick out some nice outfits so she didn't have to wear the same thing every day!" Coco complained. Nick laughed, he looked over and saw Velvet cracking a smile at it as well. Even Indigo rolled her eyes in amusement at the commentary. Sirens filled the air over the sound of the bank alarm still going.

"I think you forgot something," Amber said. Nick sighed,

"I'll handle it." He said.

After they had explained the situation to the police, they were aloud to leave while the arrested the henchman. They seemed grumpy that the huntsman students had already handled it, but they didn't seem to care all that much.

As the airship back to Beacon got in the air, Nick noticed the sun was beginning to set out the window.

"I'm never going to get tired of that." Nick said to himself.

"Tired of what?" Velvet asked, who had sat next to him. He gestured towards the sky. "Oh," she said, as if she just noticed herself.

"Yeah, it's quite the view."

She nodded, and pulled her camera from her hip and aimed the camera out the window. She took the shot and sat back, looking at it. He glanced over her shoulder at the camera, the small screen on it showing off the sunset.

"Nice shot." He said.

"T-thanks." She replied quietly. He smiled and sat back in his seat, and watched as the giant castle of a school slowly came into view. It's been a long day.


	12. Chapter XII

It's been a full day since the incident with the criminals. Nick thought that was the end of it. Yet here he was, in Beacons main elevator up to Professor Ozpins office. He was nervous, it was the first time he was actually called up there. He liked the headmaster, though his stomach had dropped when his scroll notified him to stop by as he got back to the dorm from his shift.

The doors opened to reveal the large office. He first managed to notice the peculiar gears that decorated the floor and ceiling by their operating. The office appeared to be lit by the large windows at the far end of the room, which looked out onto the campus. Also sitting at the fat end of the room, sat a desk. On one side, the headmaster sat. The other was a empty chair.

The headmaster smiled in greeting to Nick.

"Please, come in." He said. Nick nervously made his way to the desk and sat down in the empty chair. "Mr. Veras, do you know the rules of chess?" He inquired, as he took a sip from his mug.

"It's been awhile since I've played it, but yes." He responded, somewhat confused. The headmaster smiled kindly.

"When would you mind humoring me with a game while we talk?" He asked. A dust projection of a chess board appeared on the desk. Nick nodded, and looked over the board for a moment. He reached over and moved his first piece. "So, I heard you had a run in with a group of criminals the other day while in Vale." He said as he moved his own piece.

"Umm, yeah. They weren't really that bad, though one got away." The headmaster chuckled.

"Relax, Mr. Veras, I assure you that you're not in any trouble. I personally find you did well to act where you feel you needed too. It's one of the many factors of being a true huntsman." Nick nodded and relaxed as he took another turn. "However, you don't know who the one who escaped was, do you?" Nick shook his head.

"No, but he was... Interesting to say the least. Also could you call me Nick? Sorry, but I'm not really into formalities."

"Of course. That man, his name is Roman Torchwick. He's a rather well known criminal in the kingdoms, particularly in Vale. Throughout the years, he has managed to escape capture. It was a shame he escaped again." Ozpin sighed as they continued the exchange of turns.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You protected the innocents and put multiple criminals behind bars along with your friends. Even if one got away, that's still a better result than if you didn't get involved."

"Thank you, Professor."

The headmaster nodded and watched Nicks next move.

"If I may ask, you're in the smaller group of teams leaders that didn't ask to resign or threatened to quit. As a matter of fact, you also went so far to acquire a part time job at a local dust store. Ignoring the indecent this week in the gym, you don't seem all that phased by these responsibilities. Why is that?"

"Oh, it's not that bad that some people are making it out to be. Once I got a schedule figured out for myself, it wasn't so bad to manage with my team helping me." The headmaster smiled slightly, as his eyes glinted under his spectacles.

"I see, so you like your teammates then?"

"I don't hate them if that's what your asking. When a certain set of partners don't cause me any trouble, I consider it a big help. Though honestly, we're not a team. We're a bunch of huntsmen in training shoved in a room together and expected to play nice and just accept whatever happens. That's not how things really are working in my case." Nick sighed as he moved his next piece. "Other than me and Indigo, we don't really work together as well as I want. Hell, I only work as well as I do with her because we've already trained together for years."

The headmaster nodded as he listened.

"Well, Nick. I'll let you in a little secret, I didn't warn everyone that real training begin tomorrow for nothing. Your physical and emotion limits as a person are going to be pushed. You and your team are going to have to learn to rely on one another, weather they want to or not. Otherwise, you will fail."

"No pressure, right?" Nick muttered sarcastically.

"What I mean to explain, is that one thing your team seems to be, is dedicated. You all want to succeed, and have given it your best efforts so far. Give it time, you will all come around to each other naturally as you grow." Ozpin explained. "Though I would ask of you to find your own advice to give to other teams that may be going through issues of their own. Should they ask you, of course." He added.

Nick nodded. The headmaster smiled as he moved his next piece.

"Checkmate." The headmaster stated, gesturing towards the board. A rook a few tiles away from his king that was forced into the open. Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "That was a interesting talk and game. I hope to have another sometime, though I won't take up any more of your time. After all, you are going to need to rest to be ready for combat training."

"Alright, goodnight then Professor." Nick responded as he stood from the chair. The dust projection of the chess board disappeared from the desk, Nick began to walk out of the office, before he turned to look back at the headmaster.

"Oh, and by the way. That was a risky strategy." Nick commented. Ozpin merely raised his eyebrows. "You practically threw your pieces at my defenses to weaken them, sacrificing a good amount of them to get my guard down. It was basic and effective, but wasteful. You could have waited for an opening and got the same result without wasting the pieces on making one."

"An interesting examination. I think I'll keep that in mind." Ozpin responded. Nick nodded as he stepped into the elevator, where he proceeded to mentally scold himself for saying that. Though he couldn't help himself, it just had annoyed him how needless some of the moves seemed from him. He yawned as the elevator descended, he was right about one thing; Nick should rest up for tomorrow, it was probably going to be a long day.

* * *

Nick adjusted the straps of his sheaths slightly as he sat down in a room he had only been to a handful of times. The main arena room. The main ring had seats stationed around it, though in the other room, other sparring rings existed. After he practically herded his team the seating area that they were informed to sit in by Professor Goodwitch earlier that say, he finally felt like he could relax a little.

After a minute and all the teams had found their place, he noticed Professor Goodwitch standing in the center of the ring. The slight indistinct chattering amongst the students quieted by her appearance. She looked around the room briefly, before beginning the new class.

"Good afternoon everyone, I will be monitoring these training classes from this point onwards. Today, we'll be having team duels. Two teams will combat each other until they are either knocked out of the ring, or their aura becomes too drained to continue. It's quite similar to the rules of regional tournaments or even the Vytal Festival."

There was a pause for the students to soak in her words before she continued.

"Now then, I shall select two teams to come down here to start us off. Once they are done, I shall select two more and so on... Would team CFVY and team CEDR please start the first duel?"

Nick watched as the two teams stood from their seats and began making their way down to the ring. Coco was practically walking backwards, talking to her teammates in her usual fashion, while they looked exited. The members of team CEDR looked less than excited. That group just looked nervous about the idea of taking on one of the teams that had made a name for themselves during the initiation mission and around campus.

Nick didn't pay them much mind, he turned look at his fellow teammates.

"Whoever we end up fighting, I think we might have a decent advantage over." He said

"Why's that?" Amber asked.

"Well, just think about it, our team is pretty diverse in skill sets. So we pretty much have a counter for most basic things thrown at us. Plus if push comes to shove, we can use attempting to overpower them as a last resort. I mean, just having Indigo around during a tournament based fight gives us a big advantage on it's own." He explained. Indigo gave him a annoyed eye from her seat. Navy grunted.

"I can handle whoever we go against. Just stay out of my way." Nick sighed.

"We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves though, besides, they're watching our teamwork more than the actual outcome." Nick sighed, and gestured towards the fight. Team CFVY was operating smoothy, forcing team CEDR's members apart and towards the ring edge. On the other hand, CEDR didn't seem to be coordinating very well. They seemed confused and slow in comparison. "You want to win; we have to work together."

Navy grunted again in response. A buzzer filled the room, signifying the end of the match, two of team CEDR were pushed out of the ring by Yatsuhashi, while the other two lay on the ground with their auras broken. The professor typed something in on the scroll she held in tablet form.

"Team CFVY wins." She announced simply. Nick watched the team climb back into the stands after packing away their weapons.

"Nice fight," Nick commented as they passed by.

"Oh, that? That could've gone better if some of us stuck to the plan." She replied, her tone growing slightly pointed towards her team as they sat down near team NANI.

"You won in spite of that. Perhaps a message our own leader should take from." Navy said.

"Can you shut up." Indigo muttered. She gazed down at the floor and hunched over. "I don't want to deal with your crap today." Navy huffed.

"C'mon Navy, it won't kill you to try it a little." Nick said with a shrug.

"Well, I can't wait to see you guys out there, though I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, we're not the only team with a lucky fox." Coco replied, she gave a wink and walked away. Indigo scowled.

"What do think she-," Amber began to say, but was cut off.

"Nick, can I talk to you for a minute?" Indigo asked, her voice was low and growled. He listened briefly as the next set of teams were announced, not them yet.

"Uhh, yeah sure, let's just be quick." He said as he stood from his seat.

She guided him to the empty hallway entering the arena room. Once she was satisfied that nobody else was listening; she groaned in seeming frustration while facing the wall.

"So, what's up?" Nick asked cautiously.

"Coco found out." Indigo grumbled as she turned to face him. Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes slightly, her last comment made it a little obvious.

"And? How did she take it?" He asked.

"Fine, I just wish she wouldn't say stuff like that in front of everyone." She grumbled.

"Then why are you telling me that?"

"Because... I was hoping you could talk to her... I don't know. She makes me nervous, and you know i'm not good at talking."

"You being nervous, that's a new one." For once, he wasn't being sarcastic, it was rare for her to get nervous about anything and show it. He sighed. "Look, maybe it would be better if you talked to her yourself on your own terms. It's not my secret, and you need to learn how to deal with something that makes you uneasy instead of hiding behind me. I'll support you, but you have to do it." He explained. She leaned against the wall and smacked the back of her head on it before sighing.

"I know... You still remember the night our village burned down?"

"How could I forget? I only think about it every single day..."

"Well... You weren't there for a lot of it, you didn't see what me and my grandparents had to put up with... I don't want to go through that again, the things people said about us... The time we actually met, that wasn't the first time."

"Indigo, that was years ago. Besides, look around us, there are a lot more Faunus here than there were back home. Nobody's doing that openly here... Plus you're strong enough to not put up with it anymore."

The sound of the buzzer could be heard back in the arena room.

"We should head back." He said. Without waiting for her, he began to walk back towards the class, she began to walk with him. He remembered something and turned to look back at her.

"It's not good for you to have your tail wrapped around you like that all the time. You can't spend four years doing that, so you need to tell everyone at some point." He said before he walked back to their seats. Amber gave them a glance as they sat down while Navy said nothing.

"I know..." she muttered under her breath.


End file.
